Karnataka Cabinet grants Tulu additional official language status in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi

The Karnataka Cabinet on Friday (September 18, 2026) decided to accord additional official language status to Tulu, the language widely spoken in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, fulfilling a demand that has been raised in the region for decades.

The decision was announced by Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar after a three-hour Cabinet meeting held at Praja Soudha, the district office complex in Mangaluru. He said the status would apply to administrative matters in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, with the respective district administrations acting as the implementing agencies. The government will release ₹82 lakh annually for translation, training and language usage, he added.

Asked why earlier governments had not taken the decision, Mr. Shivakumar declined to comment on the past. "We do not do politics on sentiments, but on improving people's life," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, who continued the briefing after Mr. Shivakumar left for Hebri, said the previous government had appointed a committee headed by educationist M. Mohan Alva to study and recommend whether Tulu should be made an official language of the State. The committee submitted its report, but no decision could be taken at the time, he said. V. Sunil Kumar, then Minister for Kannada and Culture and the MLA from Karkala in the Tulu-speaking heartland, was instrumental in setting up the committee.

Tulu is a Dravidian language spoken by a large section of people in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and parts of neighbouring districts, as well as by communities settled elsewhere in India and abroad. Kannada remains the official language of Karnataka; under the Cabinet decision, Tulu will be an additional language for administrative use in the two districts. Separate demands have been made for Tulu's inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which lists recognised languages. That matter rests with the Union government and is distinct from the State's decision.

The Cabinet also accorded in-principle approval to upgrade the Mangaluru Fisheries College into a Fisheries University, increasing the annual intake from 60 students to 200. Mr. Parameshwara said a special officer would be appointed to carry out the upgradation, for which an estimated ₹11 crore would be earmarked initially.

In all, the Cabinet approved expenditure and investment proposals worth ₹32,611 crore, including ₹16,000 crore for rural development, the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Shivakumar also noted a widespread demand among residents of Dakshina Kannada to rename the district as Mangaluru. He said the present name did not fully reflect the population, while the region is known as Mangaluru across the country and abroad. The Cabinet is in favour of the renaming and has decided to seek public feedback. A draft notification will be published immediately inviting suggestions and objections within a month, after which a suitable decision will be taken.

The language decision is expected to be implemented through the district administrations, with the annual allocation covering translation of administrative documents, training of staff and other measures to encourage the use of Tulu in official work.