Karnataka may soon require bank employees to learn and use the local language, Kannada, when interacting with customers. Although a law was passed earlier this year, it has not yet been implemented. The law states that banks and private industries with over 100 employees must set up Kannada learning centers for their employees. The move comes as customers in rural areas face difficulties communicating with banks due to language barriers.
Politics aside, seems like a move in the correct direction. I am kind of tired using of broken hindi and sign language in some places.
I womder if it covers all the pvt companies…
From the article, it says it cannot apply to nationalized banks. I assume it must then apply only to the pvt banks. However not sure if it can be enforced or if enforced might lead to a discrimination in service to the native speakers.Pvt companies are highly unlikely to spend money on training just to comply with government rules. So most likely they will find some sort of loopholes. Instead, we can force provide an incentive via the employer to front desk/customer facing persons in bank if they clear a kannada exam modeled in the line of TOEFL.