Urdu To Be Official Second Language In Telangana

The Telangana Assembly on Thursday passed three bills in the House after holding discussions with the members of the ruling and the opposition parties.

The Assembly unanimously passed the Telangana Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2017, declaring Urdu as the second official language of the state.

Moved by Roads & Buildings Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao on behalf of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the Bill was supported by all the opposition parties - Congress, BJP, TDP and CPI (M).

Thanking the opposition parties for extending their support to the Bill, the R&B Minister said that there was a substantial Urdu-speaking population in Telangana, and the passage of the Bill would help Urdu gain more popularity.

The Assembly also passed the Telangana Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill 2017, moved by Rao once again on behalf of the Chief Minister, for creating a separate Lokayukta for the state.

Another Bill moved by Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy was also passed on Thursday. The Amended Bill for the Telangana Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act 1987, will give powers to the Commission of Endowments to disburse salaries to all archakas and office holders of Hindu religious institutions.

The Bills will come up for approval in the Legislative Council today.