Overview
- Kannada and Culture Minister Shivraj Tangadagi told the Assembly the government is in favour of granting Tulu official status and is awaiting an official report after study visits to West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
- The study team, led by the department director, visited Andhra Pradesh on January 19–20 to review the criteria used to designate Urdu as a second official language, with its findings yet to be submitted.
- Once the report is received, a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Speaker U. T. Khader, district in‑charge ministers, and legislators from Tulu‑speaking districts will be convened to decide the way forward.
- The law department has advised that Karnataka can act under Article 345 to designate an additional official language, noting Kannada as the administrative language with English used for official purposes.
- A 2023 committee headed by Mohan Alva had recommended that Tulu could be declared a second official language, and 13 MLAs from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have pressed the demand citing Tulu’s script, long history, academic use, and presence in Google Translate.