Vijayawada: Garapati Uma elected new chief of Telugu Bhashodyama Samakhya

Vijayawada: Linguistics professor of Central University of Hyderabad Dr Garapati Uma Maheswara Rao has been elected as the new president of Telugu Bhashodyama Samakhya here on Sunday.

Addressing the general body meeting of the Samakhya, former Minister and one of the founders Mandali Buddha Prasad said that it will be easy to implement Telugu medium if the government enforces it. He recalled that former President APJ Abdul Kalam, noted Telugu scientist Yellapragada Subbarao were among those, who studied in their mother tongue. He also appreciated the efforts of Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, who take every chance to mention the importance of mother language on every possible occasion.

Outgoing president Dr Samala Ramesh Babu underscored the need of taking Telugu language to every village and every university. He exhorted the students to put efforts to propagate Telugu.

President-elect Garapati Umamaheswara Rao expressed concern over the sad state of affair of Telugu language in current times in two States of AP and Telangana. He asserted that it is the duty of 20 crore Telugu people to protect and nurture Telugu language.

He said that Article 350A of the Indian Constitution ensures primary education in mother language and it is the duty of the powers that be to implement it.

Pulikonda Subbachari, Chimme John Barnabas, Sa Vem Ramesh, Nandivelugu Mukteswara Rao, Piratla Sivaramakrishna, Rahmanuddin Shaik, Dr Movva Srinivas Reddy and Dr Sundar Kompalli were among the speakers.

The meeting unanimously passed ten resolutions that would decide the Samakhya's activities and accepted by the General Body in unison.

The students, scholars and faculty from Hyderabad Central University and Andhra Loyola College participated.