Telugu a language of national pride: Kovind

HYDERABAD: President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday described Telugu as “a language of learning and wisdom, of protest and liberty, of national pride and universal values.’’  He was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the five-day World Telugu Conference held on Tuesday.  Quoting Sri Krishnadevaraya, a prominent ruler of the Vijayanagar empire,  Kovind extolled the Telugu language, saying “Telugu is the best of all languages in the country.” 

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced that in view of the overwhelming response to the conference, his government has decided to organise a two-day Telangana Telugu Conference every year from next December.“We will convene a meeting with literary personalities and announce the measures to promote Telugu language by the first week of January,” he said. 

“Everyone studying in Telangana, including those whose mother tongue is not Telugu,  should learn Telugu and orders had already been issued in this regard,” he added.Rao assured that the problems of Telugu pandits would be solved, as announced earlier, by overcoming legal hurdles.  Instructions were issued that the pension amounts for retired Telugu Language Pandits should not be cut, he said.