The Indian Government has approved the proposal to grant classical language status to Telugu and Kannada, meeting the four-year old demand of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
A committee of linguistic experts appointed by the Culture Ministry had examined the merits of the demands of the two states at a meeting last week and recommended that both languages fulfill the criteria laid down by the Government for recognition as classical languages. Telugu and Kannada will join Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit and Tamil which have already been given the classical-language status. However a public interest petition filed with Madras High Court is the last hurdle.
A classical language will get funding for instituting chairs at Universities, starting educational courses and setting up awards. The news came as a surprise birthday gift to Andhra Pradesh on 1st November, the AP Formation Day. Although, many were happy about it, some linguists, like Dr. P. Siva Rama Krishna expressed their anguish over this declaration. They wanted to see Telugu as a language with future rather than a `classical’ one.
Telugu is called the Italian of the East.
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