VIJAYAWADA: BJP Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao has lambasted Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for his government’s decision to rename Telugu Akademi as Telugu Sanskrit Akademi. In a letter written to the Chief Minister, he said from the beginning, Jagan is least bothered about the protection and promotion of Telugu language, the mother tongue of crores of people, which is clearly reflected in his several decisions. “To look down upon the Telugu language is to damage the self-esteem and self-confidence of the Telugu people. Does the government elected to office for a few years have the power to reduce the status of the great Telugu Language, which has a history of three and half thousand years?” he questioned.
Pointing out that even the British did not dare to undermine the Telugu language, GVL said none of them is against the English language, but ignoring our language with a fascination for a foreign language is mindless audacity. Jagan’s decision to make English medium compulsory in government schools was challenged in the High Court by his party and the court struck down the decision. The government went to the Supreme Court.“We expect the result would not be any different, as the decision was unconstitutional,” he said.
“On one hand, the Centre is making praiseworthy efforts to promote learning in Indian languages in higher education as well as technical education. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that technical education should be offered in Indian languages and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has prepared BTech textbooks for the coming academic year in eight Indian languages, including Telugu,” he said.