Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy has called for a large-scale effort to teach engineering, medicine and other courses completely in Telugu medium in Telugu states. He said that there is a need to bring more dictionaries related to science and technology in Telugu and deplored the negligence of Telugu due to the English craze.
Participating in the second day of the World Telugu Federation conference held at Hyderabad on Saturday, he called on all of us to protect the Telugu language and that the movement should start from our homes.
Stating that Telugu is one of the ancient languages of India, he recalled that the central government has recognized Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia and Sanskrit as ancient languages along with Telugu.
Kishan Reddy said that it is not just a matter of saying that ‘Telugu is less among the languages of the country’ and that Telugu language is the most beautiful language in the world, and Telugu words and melodies make it sound like listening to music to those who listen to them.
He expressed his regret that many people are currently unable to write in Telugu despite being their mother tongue and even Telugu words are being written in English, whether on social media or in letters. He said that even at home, we speak only 30 percent of the language.
The Union Minister ruled out the misconception that studying in Telugu medium will not get you jobs and reminded that countries like China, Japan, South Korea and others have developed while continuing education and administration related matters in the mother tongue of their respective countries.
He recalled that during the Nizam’s era, oppression of the Telugu language continued and there were Urdu medium schools and Telugu people had to study there. However, he said that even under such restrictions, many struggles were waged to protect the Telugu language in the name of the Granthala Yodyam and ‘Andhra Mahasabha’.
He further stated that Yakshaganam, Bhagavatam and drama are art forms unique to Telugu language and made it clear that attention in the world is not seen in any other language except Telugu and Sanskrit. Kishan Reddy suggested that the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments should pay more attention to continuing Telugu as the official language.
He asked them to take the initiative to continue issuing government orders in Telugu. On this occasion, he reminded that the Center has announced its full support for the intention of publishing arguments and judgments in the courts in the mother tongue.
Kishan Reddy said that the Modi government has given a big place to mother tongues through the new National Education Policy and is working to prepare higher education curricula and textbooks in Indian languages.