Telugu Conference Calls To Preserve, Promote Telugu

The fourth World Telugu Conference began in Tirupati on Thursday, with a call to "pass on AP's heritage and culture to the next generation with a resolve", and to "preserve and promote the honey-laced Telugu language".

Inaugurating the 3-day conference, President Pranab Mukherjee said the deliberations during the conference must result in positive recommendations aimed at preserving and promoting the language, while the state and central governments should take steps to translate suggestions into reality in the days to come.

"The conference should give a new vision and dimension for the upkeep of the language," he said, and in a mild rap on knuckles of the organizers, said, "Such events should be held more frequently."

He traced the history of the language, naming prominent persons, their contribution, and various literary movements, and expressed happiness that Telugu attained the Classical Language status in 2008.

Governor E S L Narasimhan dwelled upon the beauty of the language and prominent people who contributed to its enrichment.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy announced that Sahitya Akademy and other organizations would be revived, and also said that there would be a separate ministry for the promotion of Telugu. Plus, he said it would be put to official use.

Prominent personalities who excelled in their chosen fields were felicitated on the occasion. ANR (film actor), Bapu (film director), Yamini Krishna Murthy (dancer), Mukesh Kumar (hockey player) and C R Rao (scientist) were among those who were honoured at the inaugural function.

The event had its share of resistance, with local MLA B Karunakar Reddy staging a protest rally against the conduct of the WTC. He contended that the event was "eyewash", and that "there was no sincerity on the part of the organizers" . (INN)