Tulu Accorded 2nd Official Language Status in Karnataka:
The Karnataka government has granted Tulu the status of the second additional administrative language in the State. The status will apply specifically to the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, where Tulu is widely spoken.
- The government will allocate Rs 82 lakh annually for translation, training and other activities related to the use of Tulu.
- The decision implements the recommendations of a committee headed by educationist M. Mohan Alva.
- This committee was appointed in 2023 to study the state of Tuluva culture and language and recommend pathways for its official recognition.
- Under Article 345 of the Indian Constitution, a State Legislature is empowered to formally adopt Hindi or any regional language in use within the state as its official language for administrative purposes.
- Article 347 grants the President of India the authority to direct the official recognition of a language across an entire state or a specific district if a substantial proportion of the population demands it.
- At the national level, the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution currently recognizes 22 languages, while Tulu remains outside it despite demands for its inclusion and greater recognition.
- Tulu is a highly prominent Dravidian language, often counted among the ‘Pancha-Dravida’ (Proto-Dravidian) languages, alongside Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam.
- To record its rich literary and religious heritage, the region developed its own indigenous writing system known as the Tulu script (or Tigalari).
- A Southern Brahmic script that evolved from the medieval Grantha script.
