Naidu stresses on need to promote mother tongue

Research has shown that those who are proficient in their mother tongue can learn other languages with equal ease, he said according to an official statement. Similarly, another survey of countries impacted greatly by globalisation showed that nations which accorded importance to mother tongue were among the top 50.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called for protecting and promoting various Indian languages through the use of mother tongue in education and administration. Inaugurating a webinar on "Knowledge Creation: Mother Tongue" organized by the Department of Telugu, the University of Hyderabad, and the Telugu Academy, Naidu stressed the need for giving special thrust to the respective official language by every state government.

Observing that language was the lifeline of civilization, he said it denotes the identity, culture, and traditions of the people. It plays an important role in preserving music, dance, customs, festivals, traditional knowledge, and heritage. Calling for imparting education in mother tongue up to primary school level, he stressed that a language would gain popularity only through widespread usage. He said it was a fallacy to think that progress could be achieved only if education was pursued in English. Research has shown that those who are proficient in their mother tongue can learn other languages with equal ease, he said according to an official statement.

Similarly, another survey of countries impacted greatly by globalization showed that nations which accorded importance to mother tongue were among the top 50. Naidu said that it was also not correct to think that modern research could be conducted only if one was proficient in English. It should be noted that about 90 percent of the top 40-50 countries in the Global Innovation Index are those in which education was imparted in their respective mother tongues, he said.

Pointing out that many visiting foreign VIPs, despite knowing English, speak in their mother tongue during their discussions with top Indian dignitaries, the vice president said that by doing so they were conveying a message of self-respect.