Protect and promote Indian languages: Venkaiah Naidu

HYDERABAD: The Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called for protecting and promoting various Indian languages through the use of mother tongue in different fields from education to administration.

Speaking at the inauguration of a two-day international online webinar on ‘Knowledge Creation: Mother Tongue’ organized by the Department of Telugu, University of Hyderabad (UoH) and the Telugu Academy, Naidu stressed on the need for giving special thrust to the respective official language by every State Government.
Calling for imparting education in the mother tongue up to primary school, Naidu said that a language would gain popularity only through widespread usage.

“It is a fallacy to think that progress could be achieved only if education was pursued in English. Research has shown that those who are proficient in their mother tongue can learn other languages with equal ease,” he said.

Observing that language was the lifeline of any civilization, he said it denotes the identity, culture, and traditions of the people.

“Language plays an important role in preserving music, dance, customs, festivals, traditional knowledge, and heritage,” he added.

G Sathish Reddy, Chairman, DRDO, KL Varaprasada Reddy, Chairman, Shantha Biotech pharma companies, S Satyanarayana Reddy, Director, Telugu Academy, among various others took part in the webinar.