Madikeri: The Codava National Council (CNC) has urged the state govt to grant official language status to the Kodava language.CNC president NU Nachappa said a memorandum in this regard had been submitted to CM DK Shivakumar and KPCC president BK Hariprasad. He said the govt should extend the same recognition to Kodava that it had accorded to Tulu by granting it official language status.In the memorandum, Nachappa cited the Seventh Amendment to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, along with Articles 345, 347 and 348 of the Constitution, to highlight the legal and constitutional basis for the demand. He said Kodava is an ancient living language with a rich cultural heritage and noted that noted linguist Pandit Sitakant Mahapatra had earlier recommended its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.Nachappa also pointed out that Hariprasad, during his tenure as an MP in 2016-17, had proposed a Constitutional Amendment Bill seeking Eighth Schedule recognition for both Kodava and Tulu.He recalled that the SM Krishna-led govt had issued an order in 2002 recognising Kodava for administrative purposes, but the order was later withdrawn without any clear explanation.Stating that the CNC has been consistently campaigning for linguistic recognition, Nachappa urged the state govt to fulfil what he termed a long-pending constitutional right. He added that copies of the memorandum had also been submitted to the President, the Prime Minister, and the Union home minister.
