VIJAYAWADA: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said he would strive to uphold the dignity of the Rajya Sabha and restore its past glory, during his maiden visit to the state after occupying the high office.Emphasising the need to protect the Telugu language, the vice-president suggested the government make it the administrative language of the state.“There is nothing wrong in learning other languages. We should learn Hindi while going out of the state and should know English too, but we should not neglect our mother tongue. The governments of both the Telugu states should concentrate on the protection of Telugu,” he said.
The new occupant of the V-P’s office said he would strive to uphold the dignity of the Legislature. “Members of the Legislature should engage in meaningful debates and not turn the Houses into conflict zones. All political parties and its members should discharge their responsibilities properly. It is the duty of the government to give adequate time to members of Opposition parties to raise their voices on public issues. The Opposition should focus on giving constructive suggestions to the government instead of limiting themselves to hurling allegations at the ruling party,” he said after being accorded a civic reception by the state government at the Interim Government Complex in Velagapudi near here on Saturday.
On the occasion, Venkaiah expressed concern over the inequalities and abysmal literacy rate in the society 70 years after independence. “We should feel ashamed of incidents of discrimination in the name of caste and religion and a group obstructing another group from entering temples,”' he said.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who was at the forefront of the grand welcome arranged for the V-P, said Venkaiah was the only leader who fought for AP during bifurcation and would continue to work for the betterment of the state in his capacity as the Vice President.