Make mother tongue medium of instruction in schools: Venkaiah

MYSURU: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday urged state governments to make the mother tongue the medium of instruction in schools, at least at the primary level. Speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) here on Saturday, Naidu, however, clarified that it was inevitable not to learn other languages like Hindi and English. But he said this should not be at the cost of local languages.

State governments must explore the possibility of linking the medium of instruction with local languages, he said. He also called upon working professionals to be aware of local languages. “People who visit taluk offices, post offices or banks will not know Hindi or English. Hence, the officials must be aware of the local languages and dialects,” he said.

Naidu said he was only against imposition of Hindi, but not against learning it. He cited his own example when he was the BJP general secretary. “Whenever I addressed party workers in English during my visits to different states, there were hardly a few people who understood it,” he said. 

He also expressed his wish to make it possible to allow Parliamentarians to speak in the language of their choice in the House with the aid of technology. “Protecting language is akin to nationalism and the real patriotism is preserving our mother tongue. Language and culture go hand in hand and if one has to articulate his or her feelings, it is only in mother tongue, as it comes from within,” he said.

Breaks protocol
Naidu insisted that the founder-director of CIIL, D P Pattanayak, who was seated among the VIPs in the front row, must be invited on to the stage. Soon after the compere made a mention of Pattanayak, who, even in his old age, had come all the way from Bhubaneshwar in Odisha to be a part of the celebration, Naidu told the organisers to invite him to be seated among the dignitaries. 

When the time came to honour Pattanayak, Naidu volunteered to felicitate the latter even as the director of CIIL, D G Rao, had almost completed the job. Naidu honoured Pattanayak by draping a shawl on him, much to the delight of the linguists and experts present at the event.