Official language status for Tulu: Meeting with CM soon, says Shivaraj Tangadagi

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, January 28, 2026: The Karnataka government is in favour of declaring Tulu as the state’s second official language and is studying what West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have done, Kannada & Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi told the Assembly on Wednesday. 

At present, Kannada is the only official state language, while English is an ‘additional official’ language.

Lawmakers across party lines from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, including Speaker UT Khader, have been mounting pressure on the government to declare Tulu as the second official language in the state.

Tangadagi said the government has written to West Bengal where there are multiple ‘additional official’ languages.

“A committee of officials has visited Andhra Pradesh where Urdu is the second official language. The committee has yet to submit its report,” Tangadagi said, adding that the team visited Andhra Pradesh on January 19 and 20.

The minister was replying to a question by Puttur Congress MLA Ashok Kumar Rai.

“After the report is submitted, a meeting will be convened with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. We’re in favour of this,” Tangadagi said.

The previous BJP government had formed a committee headed by educationist Mohan Alva to examine the possibility of having Tulu as the state’s second official language.

The committee gave its report in February 2023 and recommended that Tulu could be made the state’s second official language as per Article 345 of the Constitution. It also asked the government to form a committee to study what other states had done.

Rai said declaring Tulu as another official language would involve no financial cost to the government.

“Tulu has a history of 3,000 years, it has its own script and is included in Google Translate. Tulu is being researched in Germany and France. Universities have allowed exams in Tulu,” he said.

BJP’s Vedavyas Kamath also demanded early action to declare Tulu as an official language. The MLA even broke into Tulu for a conversation with Khader, who also speaks the language with native fluency.

“I don’t know what abuse Kamath showered upon me in Tulu,” Tangagadi quippet. Khader replied: “Don’t worry. When Tulu people express praise or abuse, it’s with love and affection.”