Accord classical status to Kannada: Chandrashekar

Bangalore, Nov 21 (UNI) Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman B K Chandrashekar today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to accord classical status to Kannada language before the end of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the state's formation this month.

In a letter to Dr Singh here, he said the people of Karnataka still hoped that the Centre would extend the classical status to their language before November 30.

''It will be a big gift from the Centre if it announces it before the end of this month. It is unscientific not to give classical status to Kannada along with Tamil,'' he said.

The delay in this regard had created an impression that the Centre was meting out a ''step-motherly treatment'' to Kannadigas and their culture, he added.

UNI