Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said that all public and private schools in the state must offer Telugu as a subject compulsorily.
The schools which fail to do so, will be de-recognised and not allowed to be function in the state, KCR said.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a meeting that was discussing arrangements for the five-day World Telugu Conference to be held in Hyderabad from December 15 to 19 this year.
“There is no second option for the schools, both in the government and private sector. They have to offer Telugu as a compulsory subject in every class. Those institutions refusing to implement the government decision will not henceforth get approvals from the state education department," a senior official told the Times of India.
The ToI report also quotes an official source saying, "The chief minister said these two decisions will be placed before the next cabinet meeting for necessary amendment in the law. If required, the government will bring about a legislation in this regard."
The Deccan Chronicle reported that the state government has sanctioned Rs 50 crore for the purpose, along with Rs 5 crore to the Sahitya Academy and Rs 2 crore to the Official Language Committee.
Stating that students could take Urdu as an optional subject, the DC report adds that the Sahitya Academy was given the task of preparing a syllabus for Telugu to be taught from Class 1 to Class 12.
It was earlier decided that the inaugural ceremony of the first World Telugu Conference would be held on June 2, the state's Formation day.
However, it was postponed after officials said that they required some time to invite delegates from India and abroad to organise the conference on a large scale.
As part of the conference, poets' gatherings (Kavi Sammelanas) and conferences on various genres of literature will be organised.
While announcing the conference earlier, Rao also decided to constitute Telangana Lalitha Kala Academy, Sangeet Nataka Academy and Folk Arts Academy.
He said that best Telugu dialect and best poetry is available in Telangana and the academies should become platforms to spread the literary flavour of Telangana to the world.
The CM appointed noted literary personality Sri Nandini Sidhareddy as Chairman of the Telangana Sahitya Academy.
IANS inputs