Hyderabad, March 14: Andhra Pradesh Government on Monday said it was considering a three-language formula with Telugu as the first official language and Urdu the second to be implemented in various districts of the state.
Replying to a question raised by a Muslim in the state Assembly today, the government, however, said there was no plan to constitute a second official Language Commission for Urdu and a monitoring body for implementation of the formula.
Responding to the issues raised by Akbaruddin on effective implementation of Urdu in the state, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said Urdu is a “sweet” language.
We will take all steps to protect it, he said.
Earlier, the MIM leader said that there were efforts to “finish off Urdu” in the state despite it being declared as the second official language in 15 out of 23 districts.
“Many government orders were issued in the past for effective implementation of Urdu but in practise that’s not happening. The three-language formula facilitates learning of ones mother tongue but only Telugu and English are being taught and not Urdu,” said Akbaruddin.
The Chief Minister assured the MIM member that he would soon convene a meeting to review implementation of Urdu and take concrete steps to ensure the language was protected.
State Education Ministers evolved a scheme in 1949 in order to provide facilities for teaching a minority language or mother tongue. Subsequently, the Union Education Ministry, in consultation with States, formulated a three-language formula.
The Formula provides Hindi, English and modern Indian language (preferably one of the southern languages) in the Hindi speaking states and Hindi and English and the regional language in the non-Hindi speaking States.
–Agencies