VIJAYAWADA: The State government has decided to celebrate the 159th birth anniversary of Gidugu Ramamurthy Panthulu as Telugu Language Day on August 29 in all districts. This was informed by AP Official Language Commission Cairman Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad.
As Gidugu Rammurthy’s place of work was Visakhapatnam and his birthplace is also in Uttarandhra district, the chief minister ordered that the state level Telugu Language Day should be held in Visakhapatnam on August 29. About 40 people who have who have worked for the development and preservation of the Telugu language will be recognised and they will be presented with a certificate of appreciation and a cash award of Rs 15,000 each on the occasion.
Instructions have been sent to the Collectors of all the districts to organise Telugu Language Day celebrations in all the districts with the aim of making all Telugu people participants in these celebrations. District-wise local Telugu writers and language lovers will be recognised and honoured.
AP Official Language Commission Cairman Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad said that the state government has established a Telugu Language Authority, a long-standing demand for the last two decades.Speaking to the media at the Interim Government Complex, Velagapudi, on Thursday, Lakshmi Prasad said that the government has given special powers to the commission.
The commission has the powers to review the implementation of Telugu as the official language from the divisional to the State level, impose fines and jail sentences on officials, heads of departments and organisations who do not implement Telugu as the official language.
Similarly, the commission has the authority to issue orders that name plates, boards, flexi, banners and other promotional materials should be in Telugu and impose punishments and fines on those who violate them. The same information has been sent to the Collectors, Heads of Departments and Secretaries of all the districts. The Commission has called on Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma and clarified the same.
Lakshmi Prasad said that from the first week of September, the Telugu Language Development Authority will go to each district and hold a meeting with the officials of all the departments and explain the special powers of the Authority. He appealed to people from all walks of life to cooperate in the programme implementing Telugu as the official language the government.
“The government has restored the Telugu Academy,” Lakshmi Prasad said. The chief minister has also re-appointed the Telugu Language Association, which was shut down during the previous government.
Telugu language got the status of an ancient language during the tenure of former chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy. The Centre or Ancient Studies of Telugu Language continued in the College of Indian Languages in Mysore. Culture Department CEO Mallikarjuna Rao was also present.
Five acres in Nellore for language centre
As per the instructions of the chief minister, the Center for Ancient Studies of Telugu Language has been shifted to Nellore, AP Official Language Commission Cairman Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad said. The state government has also allocated five acres of land in Nellore for the establishment of the centre.