Hyderabad: Former Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, expressed concern over reports suggesting the Telangana government’s intention to implement Sanskrit as a second language in government junior colleges.
Taking to social media platform ‘X,’ Naidu emphasized the importance of preserving the connection between students and their mother tongue.
He stated, “It is not advisable to distance students from their mother tongue. Teaching Sanskrit is not wrong, but at the same time, our native languages serve as a foundation for embracing our culture. The National Education Policy 2020 has also given priority to this aspect.”
Naidu urged the Telangana government to reconsider its decision if it was driven solely by scoring advantages in exams.
He appealed for measures that bring students closer to their mother tongue while fostering cultural values.
Mother tongues of Telangana
Based on the 2011 Census of India, the predominant mother tongue in Telangana is Telugu, spoken by approximately 75.51 percent of the state’s population.
Following Telugu, Urdu is the second most spoken mother tongue, accounting for around 12.17 percent of the population.
Other notable mother tongues in Telangana, although spoken by smaller percentages, include Lambadi (5.55 percent), Marathi (1.77 percent), and Hindi (1.52 percent).
The remaining 3.33 percent of the population reports various other languages as their mother tongue, highlighting the linguistic diversity within the state, which includes tribal languages and languages spoken in border regions.
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