Venkaiah exhorts Telangana, AP to work in tandem

Hyderabad: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday made a fervent appeal to the Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh governments to promote Telugu for the culture of Telugu-speaking States to flourish.

Telangana State government accorded civic reception to Venkaiah Naidu. It was attended by galaxy of leaders and officials at Raj Bhavan here.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice-President expressed serious concern over increasing use of English which has emerged as a big barrier to ensure that the benefits reach the need at grassroots. He suggested that the governments make Telugu language mandatory in the school education and also in the recruitment for government jobs.

Referring to the standoff between AP and Telangana State governments on the division of assets, Venkaiah Naidu appealed to both the two governments to set aside the differences that arose between them and work in tandem to achieve the goals set by the Chief Ministers K Chandrashekar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu.

Venkaiah Naidu expressed concern over frequent disruptions in Parliament and said legislatures should function smoothly in the spirit of true democracy. The treasury benches and the opposition should take up debates, without allowing disruptions, to make effective laws for the people, said Naidu who by virtue of being the VP also presides over the Rajya Sabha as its chairman.

"Pranab Mukherjee (former president) had said 'discuss, debate and decide'. 3 Ds. No 4th D. The fourth D is disrupt. We need to keep that in mind," he said.. "Government proposes, opposition opposes, House disposes. Either this way or that way. That is the guiding principle," he said. Concerns had been expressed over frequent disruptions in the functioning of Parliament in recent times, Venkaiah Naidu said.

He sought to drive home the point that not only Parliament but also Legislative Assemblies and Councils in states should also function effectively.

"The local Sabha should get inspiration from the Lok Sabha," he said. Noting that development and prosperity of the country were the ultimate goal of all, he said, and added that parties and public representatives at all levels needed to introspect and strive towards realising 'Ram Rajya' (ideal state) dreamt by Mahatma Gandhi.

The 'Ram Rajya' does not mean any "religious state," he said. He said "inclusive growth" under which everybody felt that they were a part of the development process should be the aim. He said the Prime Minister had called for working in a spirit of 'Team India' for achieving the objective.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao recalled his meeting with Venkaiah Naidu in the early 1980s. He said Venkaiah Naidu rose the position of Vice-President because hard work and communication skills, he said.

Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan, Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Rao and a number of other leaders and dignitaries attended the event.