All India Telugu Conference in Orissa 4-6/2/2011

Telugu meet ends on a colourful note

B. Prabhakkar Sharma

State promises all help to Telugu medium schools in Orissa

Showcasing AP:Artistes from Hyderabad performing Burrakatha at the valedictory of the 6th National Telugu Conference in Berhampur on Sunday.

BERHAMPUR: Minister for Primary Education of Andhra Pradesh S. Sailajanath on Sunday assured the Telugu people in Orissa that his government would immediately take all possible steps to ensure that Telugu education in the neighbouring State is pursued without hassles.

Addressing the valedictory meeting of the three-day sixth All India Telugu Conference conducted by Potti Sriramulu Telugu University-Hyderabad in association with Andhra Bhashabhivardhani Samajam here and other Telugu organisations of Orissa, he said there are 600 B.Ed. colleges in Andhra Pradesh and it would not be difficult to sanction about 20 seats required for Orissa. Similarly, education would also be imparted through distance learning mode in the border States, he said. It was important that Telugu language was protected from all sides, for, language was the lifeline of any community. He said all languages faced threat, thanks to the money-spinner English which was all pervading now.

Chairman of AP Legislative Council A. Chakrapani, who had over a couple of years led a committee to look into the problems faced by Telugus in Orissa, agreed with KS Nagar MLA Sugnana Kumari Deo that the problem of schools and teachers was no issue and could be tackled at the local level. Ms. Deo, a nine-time legislator of Orissa, said Telugu teachers working in Oriya schools could be transferred to Telugu medium schools in the next academic year itself. The conference adopted 10 resolutions including one for sanctioning a corpus fund of Rs.10 crore to the Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao International Telugu Centre of PSTU to tackling issues faced by Telugus living outside Andhra Pradesh.

Former Minister Mandali Buddha Prasad, Orissa MLAs – R.C.C. Patnaik, and K. Narayana Rao, and others were present.