An overwhelming sense of joy and accomplishment pervaded linguists and Telugu language lovers, with the legal hurdles being cleared towards according classical language status to Telugu, as the Madras High Court dismissed the PLIs on Monday.
Telugu Bhashodyama Samithi hailed the decision, as it will help in release of substantial Central funding of Rs.100 crore for development of the language.
Speaking to the media after garlanding the statue of Telugu Thalli and distributing sweets to its members, its founder-president Sakam Nagaraja said the tag would help in establishment of language chairs in Central universities, lifetime achievement awards, and cash prize of Rs.1 lakh for three Telugu pundits, besides sanction of several Fellowships and post-doctoral Fellowships.
“Now is the time to bring pressure on the Centre to declare Telugu as the second official language of the country, as it is the second largest spoken after Hindi,” Dr. Nagaraja pointed out.
“It is matter of self-respect for every Telugu,” observed Vempalli Gangadhar, noted writer.
