Former Deputy Speaker and Telugu scholar Mandali Buddha Prasad on Sunday expressed regret that while eight non-Telugu-speaking states in the country are running Telugu-medium schools, the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh was making arrangements to switch to English as the compulsory medium of instruction in State-run schools.
Addressing the concluding session of the three-day World Telugu Writers’ Conference at Siddhartha Arts College in the city, Mr. Buddha Prasad said that instead of further strengthening the language and promoting it at all levels, it is unfortunate that the government is choosing to abandon it. He expressed serious concern that if Telugu was dropped as a medium of instruction, the Telugu dictionary and thesaurus may soon go out of use.
“The government, instead, should encourage people to use their mother-tongue and give priority to Telugu medium candidates in local jobs,” Mr. Buddha Prasad said.
Onus on parents
Speakers at the conference urged parents to encourage their children to read Telugu books and magazines to kindle their interest in the language. Delegates drawn from various walks of life were unanimous in their demand that the State government allow Telugu medium schools to continue and that every individual should do their bit to promote the language.
The three days of the conference saw Telugu representatives from abroad, poets, writers, littérateurs, political leaders, administrators, women representatives and research scholars praising the glory of the Telugu language and the need to promote the language at the global level.
