Use mother tongue in all walks of life: Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said the native languages or mother tongue should be used extensively in various fields including administration. He stressed that imparting education in the mother tongue will enable a child to grasp and understand the subjects better than in any other language.

Addressing a webinar on "Our Language, Our Society and Our Culture" on the occasion of Telugu Language day organised by the South Africa Telugu Community (SATC), he stressed on the need to preserve and protect Telugu Language. "All Telugus irrespective of whether they are living in India or abroad must strive for the promotion of their language and culture, which lay the foundation for the development of society," he said.

Telugu language experts and members of Telugu associations from all over the world, including London, Sydney, Canberra, Abu Dhabi, Scotland, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand and Germany participated in the video conference.

The event was organised to coincide with the Birth Anniversary of Gidugu Venkata Rama Murthy, a Telugu linguist and pioneer in the promotion of the language.

Venkaiah Naidu called for developing simple scientific terminology in Telugu language saying it will help the common people to have a better understanding of science and technology. The Vice-President said there should be a thorough review and introspection of the progress made in using Telugu and other Indian languages in day-to-day life. He said that a language symbolises the richness of one's civilization. The language also denotes the importance of games, languages, festivals and arts in society at large.

Vice-President said the glorious heritage and richness of a language can be protected and preserved only by passing it to the coming generations.

Observing that many native languages across the world were facing the risk of marginalisation in the era of globalisation, he cautioned that they would become extinct if the trend continued. The Vice-President pointed out that countries like France, Germany, Russia, Japan and China were able to effectively compete with other developed nations although they accorded predominance to their native languages in all fields.

Paying rich tributes to Gidugu Venkata Rama Murthy, he described him as a multi-linguist, historian and social visionary, who strove to simplify Telugu language and make it more comprehensible to the common man. Because of his untiring efforts, the language has percolated to the masses. Protecting and promoting the Telugu language will be a real tribute to Gidugu Venkata Rama Murthy, the Vice-President added.

Dr Ch Ramesh, MLA, Telangana Legislative Assembly; Kavitha Kalvakuntla, president of Telangana Jagruthi; Vikram Petluru, chairman SATC and Ganesh Totempudi, Germany-based scientist were among those who participated in the virtual event.