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Kerala agrees to restore Kannada signs in Kasaragod
Kerala to restore Kannada signboards in Kasaragod after complaints, enhancing cultural ties with Karnataka and supporting local Kannada institutions.
Following a directive from the Central Minorities Department, the Kerala government has agreed to restore Kannada language signboards in places in Kasaragod district, located on the border between the two states, officials said. The directive followed complaints flagging the lack of maintenance on the existing Kannada language signboards, which precipitated the intervention of the Karnataka Border Area Development Authority (KBADA), senior officials said on Friday.
“The Central Department had directed the Kerala government to take action in this regard. Responding positively to this, the Kerala government has directed the NHAI and Kasaragod District Commissioner to take action to install Kannada nameplates at all the places where Kannada nameplates were previously installed, including the bus stand, national highway, and railway station in the border district,” KBADA chairman Somanna Bevinamarada said.
The authority oversees 658 Kannada schools spread across 19 districts in six states, serving 109,000 students. It supports these institutions with infrastructure assistance and is now considering supplying Kannada-language newspapers to them.
Bevinamarada also said that a cultural hall built in memory of pro-Kannada activist and writer Kayyara Kinhanna Rai at Peradala in Badiyadka, Kasaragod, is nearing completion. Constructed at a cost of about ₹2 crore, the hall is scheduled to be inaugurated on October 27. Both the chief ministers of Karnataka and Kerala are expected to be invited. Kayyara’s family donated more than an acre of land for the project.
Kasaragod, Kerala’s northernmost district, has long shared cultural and linguistic ties with Karnataka, with a sizable Kannada-speaking population living in the region. Kannada schools, newspapers, and cultural institutions remain active in the border district, and many residents rely on neighbouring Karnataka for education, healthcare, and trade. These connections have also fuelled recurring demands for greater recognition of Kannada identity in Kasaragod.
