Banks should hire Kannada speaking employees, demands Karnataka Rakshana Vedike

The pro-Kannada organisation Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) held protest outside State Bank of India head office in Bengaluru to press in their demand to hire Kannada speaking employees in banks on Wednesday.

The organisation protesting in front of the bank also demanded that all bank employees should learn Kannada within six months or leave their jobs.

KRV president T Narayanagowda talking to media said, “How will bank employees serve customers if they don’t know Kannada? Our demand is that all banks, nationalised or private, hire employees who are from Karnataka or know the language,”

He added that they are protesting due to improper treatment by a bank employee with a customer in Mandya.

The KRV president told the media that in Mandya a bank employee could not communicate with a Kannda speaking farmer.

“The bank employee further dare to ask the poor farmer to learn Hindi to avail bank services,” said Narayanagowda

A State Bank of India manager not authorised to talk to the media said that the bank has always encouraged employees to speak in Kannada and three language policy is followed by the bank.

However, the pro-Kannada group has demanded Kannda speaking in all levels.

However, now the group has demanded that not just at clerical level but also senior posts in the bank which is mostly occupied by staff from other states — should also learn Kannada.