The movement began as a cry against Hindi imposition has now transformed into one which could affect the livelihood of engineers in the organisation.

On Thursday, Kannada Development Authority Chairman, SG Siddaramaiah, wrote to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited officials, demanding that non-Kannada engineers be removed from duty, Times of India reported.

The KDA Chief justified his demand by stating that Kannadigas have not received adequate representation in the cleaning and security departments.

“I had gone along with a few members of the KDA to inspect the Bangalore BMRCL office on Tuesday. There are seven chief engineers in BMRCL, who are non-Kannada speakers. Our state has the highest number of engineering colleges and there are so many Kanndigas who are competent to carry out the job. Not hiring Kannadigas is a violation of the Sarijini Mahishi report. The Siddaramaiah government must let go of these non-Kannadiga engineers and hire people from our state,” SG Siddaramaiah said.

The Chairman, on Thursday, wrote to CM Siddaramaiah, Chief Secretary Subhash Chandra Khuntia and Additional Chief Secretary for Urban Development, Mahendra Jain, asking the government to direct BMRCL to give preference to Kannadigas.

The Sarojini Mahishi of 1986 had recommended 100% reservation for Kannadigas in the state and public-sector units and in some a few central government departements. 

“The people employed in the janitorial and security departments too are non-Kannadigas. This shows how much importance the government is showing towards Kannada,” he added. 

TOI reported that BMRCL was looking to hire home guards, but the number of people in the force were too low, which is why the agency had to hire personnel from private security firms. The personnel who are hired are selected based on their capabilities. However, all non-Kannada speaking workers in BMRCL have been instructed to learn Kannada. The Director of BMRCL, Pradeep Singh Kharola, said that more locals would be hired in the future.