Budha Prasad bats for translating Telugu works into other languages

Tirupati: Andhra Pradesh State Official Language Commission Chairman Mandali Budha Prasad emphasised the need to translate Telugu literature into other languages for popularising the greatness of the language throughout the country. Mandali Budha Prasad spoke at a national seminar on 'The influence of Dravidian languages on Telugu' organised by Southern Regional Language Centre, Mysore and Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development and Department of Linguistics, Sri Venkateswara University here on Monday. Budha Prasad said that the Telugu language and literature were not lagging behind to any other languages of Dravidian language family. However, due to few shortcomings like translation of Telugu literature into other languages, the Telugu literature did not get proper recognition. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is keen on the proposal of translating of Telugu literature into other languages and he is also showing interest in setting up a separate ministry for Telugu language, Mandali said. The mutual cooperation between Dravidian languages may increase with the increase of translation of Telugu literature into other languages, he observed. "There was a proposal to formulate a unique and common script for both Telugu and Kannda languages in 1976 and it was finalized in 1990s, but at the official announcement stage, it had been postponed due to the death of former Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao," Mandali said. He also informed that TTD former Chairman DK Audikesavulu Naidu had helped financially for the project through his Srinivasa Educational Trust and the project might come out shortly for public use. Stating that there is also a need for bilingual dictionaries for all Dravidian languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam and also for Odiya and Telugu, Mandali said that once these dictionaries were printed, many Telugu speaking people residing in other States could make use of them, he said. "The united fight for the protection of regional languages is the need of the hour. Fighting against the Union Government's recent decision not to allow the regional languages in UPSC examinations was a welcome sign. Because of our collective fight, the Centre went back on its decision and gave up its proposal. The same spirit should be maintained hereafter," Mandali Budda Prasad said.A Unfortunately, proper respect is not being given to Telugu language on a par with other Dravidian languages. "It is very sad that we are doing more damage to Telugu than others in the country," he observed. Chief Minister is keen on the proposal of translating of Telugu literature into other languages and he is also showing interest in setting up a separate ministry for Telugu language