With the hashtag #NammaBankuKannadaBeku (Our Banks We Need Kannada), activists have been carrying out a sustained campaign against the absence of Kannada instructions in forms used for a variety of transactions in Karnataka banks. Over the last 24 hours, nearly 13,000 tweets with this hashtag have been hitting out at nationalised banks for promoting Hindi language use and completely ignoring Kannada.
With photos of challans, forms, and ATM screens, Kannada speakers repeatedly pointed out that customers who only know Kannada are at a disadvantage since they cannot receive basic banking instructions in their language.
What should a Kannadiga do, who knows only Kannada? This is how you alienate people in their own land #NammaBankuKannadaBeku pic.twitter.com/FV47Enq82s
— Srujana Deva (@SrujanaDeva) July 11, 2017
This is an ATM machine in Belthangady, Mangaluru. You wouldn't find 1% Hindi natives there #NammaBankuKannadaBeku pic.twitter.com/IJ03Rry0rZ
— Hariprasad Holla (@hariprasadholla) July 11, 2017
#NammaBankuKannadaBeku GoK & its Dept's. should consider moving a/c.s to banks that respect local language customers @CMofKarnataka
— Prakash Belawadi (@Belawadi) July 11, 2017
The tragedy, activists pointed out, is that the trilingual formula for all printed material is mandated by the RBI itself in its Master Circular for Customer Service in banks.
It is a tragedy that we have to run a twitter campaign to get banking services in our language when rules mandate it. #NammaBankuKannadaBeku
— Ganesh Chetan (@ganeshchetan) July 11, 2017
Section 4.3 of the Master Circular, available on the RBI website, for instance says, “In order to ensure that banking facilities percolate to the vast sections of the population, banks should make available all printed material used by retail customers including account opening forms, pay-in-slips, passbooks, etc., in trilingual form i.e., English, Hindi and the concerned Regional Language.”
What has particularly infuriated supporters of the campaign is that most banks practice a campaign of Hindi promotion, with boards in the office that teach one new Hindi word concerning banking everyday.
Situation of Banks in Karnataka today. No room for Kannada. #NammaBankuKannadaBeku pic.twitter.com/0s8rsu67HZ
— Abhi Nandan (@Abhinandan248) July 11, 2017
GoI sponsors Hindi Diwas & Pakwada in all banks across India. But doesn't care if they don't use Kannada in Karnataka #NammaBankuKannasaBeku
— Rakshith Ponnathpur (@rsponnathpur) July 11, 2017
Many also argued that the absence of Kannada from nationalised banks is doubly ironic since many of these banks originated in Karnataka, before being nationalised.
Even though the Twitter storm over Kannada use in banks kicked off only after the use of Hindi in the Namma Metro earned criticism, the issue itself has much older roots.
In March, for instance, the State-level Bankers’ Committee issued instructions to all banks in the state to use Kannada to primarily transact with customers. The SLBC had also told banks to set up a Kannada cell to promote Kannada among non-Kannadiga employees.
In September last year, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had pointed out to the SLBC that the trilingual policy was being flouted by banks and instructed them to ensure that day-to-day business was conducted in Kannada.
Siddaramaiah, has in fact, been making this demand to the SLBC from as early as 2013.