CM hopeful of getting classical status to Telugu

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on Saturday expressed the hope that Telugu would be accorded classical language status soon.

He said that the State Government was keenly pursuing the issue with the central government following an unanimous resolution on the issue in the Assembly.

Inaugurating the meet on తెలుగు భాష చైతన్యోత్సవం (Telugu Bhasha Chaitanyotsavam) organised by Telugu Association of North America (TANA) here, he stressed the need to use the Telugu language in all spheres of personal and public activity.

Expressing concern over the waning interest in mother tongue, he said that the Tamilians had taken the lead in use and preservation of mother tongue.

They had even secured the classical status for their language, which had woken up the Telugu people to do their bit in AP.On the occasion, the Chief Minister felicitated C Dharma Rao and presented the "Gidugu Ramamurthy Award" to him.

Finance Minister K Rosaiah in his address said that the people in the state should take cue from the NRIs who were spearheading the cause of Telugu language and actively promoting it. "Fascination for English language should not take precedence over our affection for the mother tongue," he said.

Earlier, TANA president B Hanumaiah said that the two-day conference began on Friday with a public discussion on "Our language - Our future" laying emphasis on promoting Telugu language and culture. Tana also conducted state-level competitions for teachers and students.

It organised a public procession from Potti Sriramulu Telugu University to RavindraBharati, demanding the classical language status for Telugu.

Andhra Bhasha Saraswatha Sangham president C Narayana Reddy urged the government to make it mandatory for all schools - public and private - in the state to implement Telugu language medium up to the fifth class.

Higher Education Minister P Venkateswara Rao, Official Languages Commission president ABK Prasad, Telugu University vice-chancellor A Manjulatha and MLAs Mandali Buddha Prasad and Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu were present.

Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle