VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday issued a notification recognising Urdu as the second official language in the state.
Special principal secretary, tourism, culture and youth affairs, Rajat Bhargava, said in a directive that the changes to the Andhra Pradesh Official Languages Act Amendment-2022 would come into effect immediately. The government had decided to give Urdu a second official language status, during the assembly session last March.
Urdu had remained the second official language in 15 districts of joint Andhra Pradesh. After the bifurcation, the Telangana government legalised Urdu as a second official language. Recognizing the aspirations of the minorities and Urdu-lovers, chief minister Jagan Reddy has made Urdu the second official language in all the districts. With this, the state government has been given Urdu equal status to carry out official activities as also in writing letters and replies -- in Telugu as well as Urdu.
Deputy CM Amzath Basha said Urdu is the language of all the people, but the earlier governments neglected Urdu development. He said Jagan is giving a boost to Urdu language by granting it the second official language status.
