Visakhapatnam: Telugu Bhasha Dinotsavam celebrated with pomp

Visakhapatnam: Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao said Gidugu Ramamurthy Panthulu was Telugu linguist and social visionary in the British era who made Telugu language comprehensible to the common man.

Celebrating the birth anniversary of Ramamurthy here on Saturday under the aegis of the District Cultural Committee at the VMRDA Children's campus, the Minister said Telugu language is a gift to man. He said that Telugu language has a special popularity in the world.

The Minister said that people should be proud that Telugu is the second most spoken language in the country after Hindi. Later, he garlanded Telugu Talli statue on the Beach Road marking 'Telugu Bhasha Dinotsavam.'

Chairman of AP Official Language Commission Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad said that the late N T Rama Rao had set up a Telugu University and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had issued orders making Telugu compulsory in schools.

District Collector V Vinay Chand said that Gidugu Ramamurthy Panthulu was the first linguist to think about Telugu language in a modern way.

VMRDA Commissioner P Koteswara Rao, GVMC Commissioner G Srijana, MLA Karanam Dharmasree and State creative and cultural committee president Vangpandu Usha participated in the event.

Later, the Minister laid the foundation stone for a slew of development works worth Rs 2.83 crore in Bheemunipatnam constituency.

This apart, marking the National Sports Day celebrations, the Minister paid tributes to Major Dhyan Chand statue at Andhra University. Srinivasa Rao said the government is taking several steps to encourage sports among people. A few players were felicitated marking the day.