Bengaluru’s apartment communities could face new requirements to use Kannada more prominently on signboards and in resident welfare association communications after Kannada Development Authority chairperson Prof Purushottama Bilimale urged the state government to introduce a set of measures ahead of the 71st Kannada Rajyotsava.
In a letter to Bengaluru development minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Bilimale called for residential and apartment complexes to prioritise Kannada on external signboards and make it a key language for day-to-day administrative work. The proposals would affect notices, circulars, announcements and other communications issued by residents’ welfare associations.
Bilimale said many apartment complexes in Bengaluru use English names and display signboards entirely in English. He argued that this does not align with efforts to promote Kannada in the city and asked the government to strengthen implementation of the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act.
The Act requires signboards to contain 60% Kannada and 40% English, according to the report. Bilimale urged the government to enforce this provision more effectively in apartment communities, where signboards and internal communications are managed by private developers, facility managers or resident associations.
He also sought a separate government notification making Kannada mandatory in communications issued by apartment associations. Such a measure would extend the language requirement beyond public-facing signage into the routine administration of privately managed residential developments, including meeting notices, circulars and announcements.
The proposal comes as Bengaluru’s apartment communities increasingly function as important units of urban administration. Resident welfare associations routinely manage access, maintenance, security, waste-related coordination and communication with residents. Any notification covering their communications would therefore require the state to clarify how the rule would apply, who would monitor compliance and what enforcement mechanism would be used.
Bilimale also called for renewed efforts to teach Kannada to non-Kannada-speaking residents living in the city’s apartment complexes. He referred to directions issued to the then commissioner of the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike during a 2025 review meeting on implementation of the language, and asked that a proposed large-scale campaign be taken forward.
Another request was for the government to issue a circular making Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations mandatory in all residential and apartment complexes across Bengaluru. Bilimale said implementing the measures during the 71st Kannada Rajyotsava would demonstrate respect for the language and identity and help make Kannada part of everyday life in residential communities.
The letter is a request to the government and does not itself create a new rule for apartment complexes. Any binding requirement would depend on action by the state government and the relevant civic authorities. The next step is whether the Bengaluru development department issues directions or a notification addressing signboards, resident association communications, language teaching and Rajyotsava celebrations.
