Venkaiah Naidu advises Telangana, Andhra to promote Telugu

Hyderabad, Aug 21 (IANS) Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday advised both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to make Telugu the language of administration as well as a compulsory subject for people to get government jobs.

"I am not saying Telugu should be the medium of instruction but everybody should compulsorily study Telugu as a language and as a subject," he said, while speaking at the civic reception hosted by the Telangana government here.

He advised Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu to give priority to Telugu, saying the language of administration should be the one which people understand.

Describing English as a "disease", he said it had gripped all. "I know it will not go away easily. Its medicine is also not easy. It has spread like an infectious disease," he said, while clarifying that he is not against English.

The Vice President said some people learn English for fashion but mostly do it to get jobs.

He feels that language and sentiments should go together and the language promotes the culture.

Naidu also advised the two Chief Ministers to sort out all the problems between the two states through dialogue.

He hoped that they will work together in strengthening both the states to make them more prosperous.