The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu, emphasized that the mother tongue is an aspect of culture that one cannot easily give up. He acknowledged the importance of English but also declared that losing one's mother tongue means losing one's identity. These issue were raised by him during the World Telugu Conference in Guntur.
Importance of Telugu Language and Heritage
- The Chief Minister indicated that the conference coincided with Sankranthi, which made the celebration even more relevant. He showed his pleasure that the event is named after N.T. Rama Rao (NTR), who fought for the self-valuation of Telugu people. He further commented on the richness and longevity of Indian languages, mentioning Telugu as a major language in India.
- He pointed out that India is a country of many languages, but only six of them have been given the classical language status. Among them are Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi, and Telugu is the most spoken language, after them. The number of people who can speak Telugu around the globe is estimated to be 100 million. The conference had delegates from almost 40 countries. He remarked that such occasions are instrumental in the script and audio recording of the Telugu language.
Role of Leaders in Language Development
Chandrababu Naidu opined that the contribution of Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy to the Language of Reforms will be remembered by the Telugus forever. Besides, he disclosed that NTR's involvement was such that he was the only leader who publicly claimed pride in the Telugu identity and Telugu Desam.
Use of Technology to Preserve Language
- The Chief Minister has negatively stated that technology may be the easiest way for languages to perish. He nevertheless mentioned that there are now new apps as well which can converse in Telugu when the user is speaking in that language. According to him, even the illiterate can efficiently operate such technologies.
- He narrated that NTR in 1985, established the Telugu University in Potti Sriramulu's name. He also mentioned that the government has a plan in place for the creation of a Telugu Unamma posturing after the râle of the bifurcation of the state.
