Legislative bills to be in Telugu

HYDERABAD: : Draft (legislative) bills in original, to be introduced in the Assembly, will be in Telugu hereafter and the Speaker will affix his signature only on the Telugu version.

The Speaker has so far signed the bills only if they are in English while the Telugu translations are made available simultaneously or later. A circular to this effect has been issued by the Law Department on the Official Languages Commission's plea. These changes stipulate that the department concerned must draft the original bill as well as its final form after the passage by the Assembly in Telugu for all official purposes. English versions can be provided by way of translation from the Telugu original copy.

Move opposed

Announcing this at a press conference here on Monday, commission Chairman A.B.K. Prasad said it was resolved to oppose the proposal to remove Telugu as second language in Intermediate on introduction of M Bi PC group. The proposal had been made to make available more teaching hours for mathematics and science. Mr. Prasad said this posed a threat to "our culture and heritage" and stated he would address letters to the Governor, the Chief Minister and the Intermediate Board to scrap the proposal.

Courtesy: The Hindu