Make Telugu administrative language, say wrtiers

Bengali writer Indranath Chowdhary and AP High Court Judge Grandhi Bhavani Prasad share views during the valedictory of World Telugu Writers’ Second Conference in Vijayawada on Monday. Also seen is A.P. Hindi Academy Chairman Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad. Photo: V. Raju

World Telugu Writers' Second Conference concluded on Monday making a fervent appeal to State Government to make Telugu compulsory medium of instruction, while making it the default language in administrative correspondence.

Reading out the more than a dozen decisions taken at the three-day world meet of writers, the former Minister Mandali Buddha Prasad wanted the A.P. Sahitya Academy revived so that it could receive funds from the Central Academy too to promote the language, initiate translation of several classics from other languages into Telugu and also from Telugu to other languages, and create a separate a ministry for Telugu Language.

Study of Andhra culture and scriptures on several old and heritage buildings could promote the language further, the meet opined and wanted a 5 per cent job reservation advantage given to all those who study in Telugu medium or begin the earlier practice of providing 5 per cent additional marks. Creating a software that could adapt itself to the Internet on all platforms and software applications could improve the use of language and also Unicode typeface with an ease to convert one type into another to bring down all barriers to popularise on the web.

State Government should take upon itself to regularly organise Telugu language festivals in other States and abroad with the help of Telugu-speaking people there to promote the language. Ratified decisions included special emphasis on reviving the old libraries that house Telugu books and promoting printing of text books in Telugu and congratulated Indians in the US for making efforts to organise a meet in September.

LSP's support

Lok Satta founder Jayaprakash Narayan also wanted Telugu language promoted as a medium of instruction instead of promoting it as a cultural event and wanted orthodoxy in the language shunned to absorb and coin new words to make it contemporary or usable by people speaking other languages. “English absorbs thousands of words every year,” he pointed out.

Referring to Gurajada Appa Rao's play Kanyasulkam, he said that Telugu language underwent tremendous change before and after it as the lucidity of the words took it closer to the people. The A.P. Hindi Academy Chairman Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad made his presidential address, while the A.P. High Court Judge Grandhi Bhavani Prasad and Bengali writer Indranath Chowdhary also attended the meet on the concluding day.

Cultural programmes were orgnaised at the Tummalapalli Kshetrayya Kalakshetram at which several known and budding artists participated during the three days.