Telugu language policy is a policy issue in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n states of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

, with 84 percent of the population reporting

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as their

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

in Andhra Pradesh prior to the creation of the State of Telangana. Telugu-language advocates decry a lack of incentivisation and government support for the language, and press for their

linguistic rights Linguistic rights are the human and civil rights concerning the individual and collective right to choose the language or languages for communication in a private or public atmosphere. Other parameters for analyzing linguistic rights include the ...

for Telugu's greater recognition and promotion.

Present status

Telugu and English are the two dominant languages of instruction in the schools of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, while there are also schools who use other regional languages such as Urdu as the medium of instruction. Telugu is a compulsory subject in schools in both states, with fluency in the language being a requirement for matriculation. The government in Andhra Pradesh is working to increase the number of English medium state schools, with some proposals calling for English to be the only medium of instruction in state schools, claiming that this policy reflects the growing desire of parents and that the state sector is losing pupils due to its inability to meet the increased demand for English medium schools. In Telangana, the government has issued plans to mandate English-medium education in all the private schools in the state. The trend towards English-medium education has caused alarm among some Telugu-language activists who claim that the state governments are placing the language in an inferior position and depriving Telugu-speakers of their language rights. Passions have been further inflamed by anecdotal reports of students in English-language schools being punished for speaking Telugu. Many educated Telugu people began travelling around the world in search of knowledge-based jobs, and have observed that many countries are prospering faster than India by imparting education in their native languages without depending on English. Throughout India, native-language advocates are demanding less reliance on English.

Telugu promotion

In 2012 the Andhra Pradesh official-language commission resumed its activities, and was tasked with organizing the fourth

World Telugu Conference The World Telugu Conference (WTC) is a conference for the furtherance of the Telugu language. Literary luminaries attend and share their views on spreading and preserving the language and advocating a Telugu language policy. History The first WTC ...

(WTC) after a 22-year hiatus. The conference was a success, with 5,000 Telugu delegates from all over the world meeting in

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

Implementations

* Compulsory subject up to the 10th standard in the state beginning in the 2013-14 academic year. * In 2012, the government of Andhra Pradesh announced that all shop and business signs must be written prominently in Telugu. * Teachers who punish students speaking Telugu on school premises will be sanctioned, with persistently-offending schools de-recognized. * Joining the World Unicode Consortium and developing a Unicode-based script for Telugu. * Official correspondence from the village to the state-secretariat level will be in Telugu, with all official documents signed in Telugu. * Annual statewide events, such as Telugu Language Day (celebrated on

Gidugu Venkata Ramamoorty Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy (1863-1940) was a Telugu writer and one of the earliest modern Telugu linguists and social visionaries during the British rule. He championed the cause of using a language comprehensible to the common man (‘Vyavahari ...

's birthday), International Mother Tongue Day, Official Language Day, and Charles Phillip Brown's birthday to inspire Telugu-language development. * ₹20 lakh to each district to promote Telugu language and culture in 2012–2013. * Greetings and awards by the state government for encouraging correspondence in Telugu. * All court proceedings and judgments, except for the High Court, will be in Telugu. * The state government proclaimed 2013 as Telugu Development Year.

Initiatives

* A ministry will be formed to promote Telugu, translating books, expanding vocabulary and reviving Telugu fine arts and literature academies. software requirement, * Preference for Telugu-medium students in state-government hiring

Voluntary initiatives

Print and visual Telugu media have taken steps to reduce English in Telugu programs, using appropriate alternate Telugu words. The Andhra Cricket Association has translated the National Cricket Academy's (NCA) coaching manuals into Telugu.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Politics of Andhra Pradesh Telugu-language mass media Mass media in Andhra Pradesh Education in Andhra Pradesh

Policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...