World meet for Telugu Secretariat

HYDERABAD: The three-day World Telugu Conference, which concluded in Mauritius on Saturday, appealed to the state government to set up a world-standard ‘secretariat’ to promote the Telugu language. It also  wanted the government to take steps for addressing problems relating to Telugu language and culture.Participating as chief guest in the valedictory, Legislative Council chairman A Chakrapani announced of constitution of a House Committee with members from both the Assembly and Council to address the problems being faced by Telugu people. Admitting to some degree of neglect of Telugu language by the government, he promised to take up the matter with the government. He also assured to strive his best to make the government consider the resolutions adopted by the conference. School education minister S Sailajanath said that he would take steps for distribution of Telugu textbooks and other material free of cost to children of Telugus living overseas. ``Telugu people, who have settled abroad, should strive to protect their mother tongue and culture,’’ he said. Tourism minister V Vasantha Kumar said that the government would concentrate on improving relations with Mauritius. Former minister M Buddha Prasad, Hindi Akademi president Y Lakshmi Prasad, Mauritius environment minister Devananda Veera Swamy, MLC I Venkaiah, principal secretary (culture) S Chellappa, Malaysia Telugu Association president Achhiah Kumar Rao, International Telugu Centre director Muniratnam Naidu and others also spoke.Conference president Adinarayana Achhumaiah moved the resolutions which urged the Andhra Pradesh government to distribute Telugu-teaching books to overseas Telugus, train the Telugu teaching faculty, set up a separate department for promotion of Telugu language as done by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states, waive all types of fees to children of Telugu NRIs to pursue higher studies in Telugu language  and send cultural troupes to all places where Telugu people live. All the resolutions were adopted unanimously.The three-day conference was jointly organised by the Mauritius Telugu Cultural Society, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Mauritius Andhra Maha Sabha and Telugu-Speaking Union in Mauritius.