Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy, a prominent linguist and social reformer, made significant contributions to both the Telugu and the Savara languages, said Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy at the Telugu Official Language Day celebrations held at AP Secretariat, Velagapudi, on Monday.
Gidugu Ramamurthy’s birth anniversary is celebrated for a week across the State and concludes on August 29 marked as the Telugu Official Language Day by the government of Andhra Pradesh.
The AP Telugu Official Language Commission is organising this programme in collaboration with Acharya Nagarjuna University.
The Chief Secretary explained that Gidugu Ramamurthy is renowned for simplifying the Telugu script, which was highly complex and difficult to learn for the common people during his time.
The CS said that Gidugu Ramamurthy aimed to make the script more accessible and user-friendly, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. On the other hand, Gidugu Ramamurthy made efforts to document and preserve the Savara language, spoken by the Savara tribal community in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Mr. Jawahar Reddy said he recognized the importance of safeguarding indigenous languages and cultures and worked towards creating scripts for languages like Savara that previously lacked a standardized writing system. By doing so, he helped the Savara community to preserve their language, culture, and heritage.
Official Language Commission Chairman P. Vijaya Babu said that the week-long celebrations are to be concluded in Vijayawada on August 29. He said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been promoting both English and Telugu languages in the schools through bilingual textbooks, which are helping the students to understand the subject in both languages and learn new skills. He opined that command of the English language would enhance employment opportunities for the students.
