VIJAYAWADA: Birth anniversary of Gidugu Venkata Rama Murthy, a Telugu linguist and pioneer in promotion of the language, was celebrated as Telugu Language Day in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
Greeting people on the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Today we appreciate all those who are making Telugu popular, especially among the youth. I also pay tributes to the great Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy, whose thoughts, writings and social reform endeavours have left a lasting impact on generations.”
Addressing a webinar on ‘Our Language, Our Society and Our Culture’ organised by the South Africa Telugu Community (SATC) on the occasion of Telugu Language Day, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu asserted that language and culture lay the foundation for the development of the society.
“Native languages or mother tongues should be used extensively in various fields including administration. Imparting education in the mother tongue will enable a child to grasp and understand the subjects better than in any other language,” Venkaiah said.
Stressing the need to preserve and protect Telugu language, he said that all Telugus irrespective of where they live, in India or abroad, must strive for the promotion of their language and culture. He also called for developing simple scientific terminology in Telugu language saying it will help the common people to have a better understanding of science and technology.
“A language symbolises the richness of one’s civilisation and also denotes the importance of games, languages, festivals and arts in society at large,” he explained.
The Vice President pointed out that countries like France, Germany, Russia, Japan and China were able to effectively compete with other developed nations although they accorded predominance to their native languages in all fields.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said Gidugu Venkata Rama Murthy, who simplified Grandhika Bhasa (written language used by poets) and promoted spoken language highlighting its ease in pronunciation and its beauty, leading to the literature made available for common man also.
“Celebrating his birth anniversary as Telugu Language Day is honouring Telugu language itself,” he said in a message on his official twitter handle.