Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Sep 1: Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has reacted positively to the request put forth by a delegation of Tulunadu which met him at New Delhi on Wednesday August 31, to include Tulu in the eighth schedule of Indian Constitution. Once this is done, this language will be recognized as one of the official languages of the country.

Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari, Dr D Veerendra Heggade, who led the delegation to New Delhi, stated that the PM has promised to take steps on this request at the earliest. He said that the delegation met Modi and handed over a memorandum seeking official language status for Tulu. "Modi told us that the government will soon consider the issue of according recognition to Tulu and some other languages and take a decision on the issue," he said.

Heggade said that the delegation pointed out to the PM that about one crore people settled in Karnataka, Kerala, Mumbai, and other places speak Tulu, when urging him to bring it under the eighth schedule of the constitution. Heggade pleaded with the PM to meet the long-standing demand for giving recognition to Tulu language, duly drawing his attention to the fact that out of 22 official languages, only four are from south India.

The Dharmadhikari also extended invitation to Modi to visit Dharmasthala, duly providing him with details of various society-centric initiatives of the temple, besides handing over pictures of the temple and books giving details about the temple and its activities.