Date:28/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/28/stories/2006092824640400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Stop harassing poor children, Sangliana urges Government

Staff Reporter

`They should not be punished for the mistake committed by the Education Department'

BANGALORE: Bangalore North MP H.T. Sangliana on Wednesday urged the Government not to disturb the children studying in English medium at the now banned Kannada-medium primary schools, numbering around 1,500 in the middle of the year as most of the 2.5 lakh students there belonged to lower middle classes and backward classes and were dalits.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the former Joint Director of Public Instruction, K. Joseph, blamed the officials for the mess for which the poor parents and children should not be victimised.

Mr. Sangliana said he advocated that all children should be taught in Kannada, but they should not be punished for the mistake committed by the Education Department.

The former police commissioner said that the Commissioner of Public Instruction last year warned all the Deputy Directors of Public Instruction and Block Education Officers that they would be proceeded against if they failed to punish the school managements violating the language policy. He had ordered them to make regular visits to the schools and set right the mistakes, Mr. Sangliana said and asked why no action had been taken against the officers responsible for the situation now.

Greater Bangalore

About Greater Bangalore, Mr. Sangliana urged the Government not to implement the Greater Bangalore project in a hurry.