Condemning the YSRCP government for “unilaterally” issuing G.O. Ms. No. 81 for doing away with Telugu medium from Classes I to VIII from the next academic year in the State syllabus, MLC P.V.N. Madhav said on Friday that the BJP would fight it along with others making a common cause.
The issue would be raised in the forthcoming Assembly session too, he said and demanded that the G.O. be cancelled.
The government should take everyone concerned into confidence and continue with both the media, he said. The “immature and thoughtless” action would render Telugu defunct and strike at its very existence, he observed.
The G.O. went against the New Education Policy and also internationally acknowledged views, including that of the UN and the UNICEF, that education at the primary level should be taught in the mother tongue, he said at a press conference here.
The implementation would also replace the State syllabus with the CBSE syllabus. The books prepared by experts in the State reflected its culture and literature, but in future even Telugu textbooks might not be available, he feared.
In neighbouring States
While the neighbouring States such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka were doing their best to promote the mother tongue, the Andhra Pradesh government was doing the contrary, he alleged. When J. Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister, Telugu medium was discontinued in Tamil Nadu. She had restored it after the political parties from A.P. made a representation, he said. In Delhi too Telugu medium was being offered.
The TDP government too committed the same mistake by issuing G.O. 14 making English medium compulsory in municipal schools and withdrew it later following opposition, he said. “However, the latest G.O. makes English medium compulsory in all the schools,” he said.
The chairmen of the Official Language Committee and the Telugu Academy should advise the Chief Minister, he suggested.
Film influence?
Mr. Madhav said that many of the decisions taken by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, including the one on English medium, were similar to those shown in the film, ‘Bharat Ane Nenu’, and wondered whether Mr. Reddy saw the film several times and came under its influence.
