Telugu Academy, known as Telugu Akademi in official materials and some sources (from Telugu: తెలుగు అకాడమి, romanized: Telugu Akāḍemī), can refer to two institutes set up to promote the use of Telugu and develop, preserve and modernize the language. The original one was set up by the Andhra Pradesh state government, while a new one using the original Hyderabad offices has been formed by the Telangana state government after bifurcation. The Academy has also became responsible for the creation and printing of school textbooks.

History

Telugu Academy offices in Hyderabad

A committee led by J. P. L. Gwynn was formed by the Andhra Pradesh government to "modernize" Telugu and make it the primary medium for administration and education in 1966 in light of the central government's decision to promote regional languages in the same fields. Based on the committee's recommendation and the central government's scheme, the state government created the Telugu Academy as a government institute for promoting Telugu in 1968.[1] P. V. Narasimha Rao started chairing the Academy the same year, possibly being the inaugural holder of the role.[2][3]

Petroglyph of Telugu Academy Inauguration

According to current chairperson Lakshmi Parvathi, the institute printed only Telugu books until the 1998-99 school year, where it diversified into publishing maths, science and English textbooks as well.[4]

Post bifurcation (2014-present)

After the separation of Telangana, the Academy entered a state of limbo as although AP set up the institute and has regional centres throughout the state, the main office in Hyderabad was located in Telangana and it took responsibility for funding its operations. During this period, its activities were significantly slowed down. A court agreement was reached giving AP and TS a 58-42 split of the Academy's assets, and AP decided to rename its academy to "AP Telugu Sanskrit Akademi" and reestablish it in Tirupati.[5] The latter decision caused some objection from opposition parties and figures, who claimed that signified a reduction in the status of Telugu and that the Academy was already underfunded and would now have to make its budget stretch even further, while officials defended the change by pointing to the use of Sanskrit for technical vocabulary in Telugu.[4][6] Member of parliament G. V. L. Narasimha Rao and actor-cum-politician Pawan Kalyan proposed that a separate Sanskrit academy should be set up instead.[4][7]

In 2019, the Academy was criticized for a 2016 book on the Telangana movement which had a significant number of factual and writing errors as well as contentious statements.[8] Six months later, the Academy announced a panel to review and correct the issues.[9]

As part of the bifurcation, the Academy's assets were audited. It was found in 2021 that staff at a credit society where the institution had fixed deposits had embezzled ₹60 crore (600 million) from the deposited funds.[10]

List of chairs

References

  1. ↑ Giri, Mehtab (1992). Centre-state Relations in Higher Education with Reference to Andhra Pradesh. Northern Book Centre. p. 91. ISBN 978-81-7211-038-3.
  2. ↑ Lentz, Harris M. (2014-02-04). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.
  3. ↑ Shiva Kumar Pinna (27 June 2020). "Remembering PV Narasimha Rao, first Telugu PM of country". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  4. 1 2 3 "Explained: The controversy over renaming the 'Andhra Pradesh Telugu Akademi'". The News Minute. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  5. ↑ Kumar, V. Pradeep (13 June 2020). "Tirupati to get AP Telugu Sanskrit Akademi". www.thehansindia.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  6. ↑ "Andhra Pradesh government's move to add Sanskrit to Telugu Akademi gets mixed response". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  7. ↑ "BJP MP faults AP govt for renaming Telugu academy as Telugu & Sanskrit academy - Times of India". The Times of India. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  8. ↑ Mahesh, Koride (23 August 2019). "Telugu Akademi book fails, ticks all the wrong answers". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  9. ↑ Bhingarde, Avinash (16 September 2019). "Telugu Akademi begins review of Telangana Movement". www.thehansindia.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  10. ↑ "Three held for duping Telugu Academy of Rs 60 crore". The New Indian Express. 2 October 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  11. ↑ "Early Life of P.V Narashima Rao". Government of Telangana.
  12. ↑ "Shri P. V. Narasimha Rao | Prime Minister of India". www.pmindia.gov.in.
  13. ↑ "Andhra govt appoints Lakshmi Parvati as Telugu Academy Chairperson". ETGovernment.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
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