Telugu, Kannada to get classical language status

A committee of linguistic experts appointed by the Culture Ministry had examined the merits of the demands of the two states at a meeting last week and recommended that both languages fulfil the criteria laid down by the Government for recognition as classical languages, sources said. Telugu and Kannada will join Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit and Tamil which have already been given the classical-language status.

However, the implementation of the recommendation may take a while as a Chennai-based advocate has filed a public interest litigation in the Madras High Court questioning the expertise of the committee members. The PIL has requested the court to quash the decision and ask the Government to set up a new committee headed by a retired judge of the high court or the Supreme Court.

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had been demanding this status for their respective languages ever since Tamil was recognised as a classical language in 2004.

To be classified as a classical language, the language must fulfil four criteria laid down by the Government. Among them are that the language must have a recorded history of at least 1,500-2,000 years and its literary tradition be original and not borrowed from any speech community.