Government not imposing any language on anyone: Prakash Javadekar

NEW DELHI: The government today assured Parliament that it was not trying impose any language "on anybody" in the country as it respected all Indian languagues.

Responding to the issue raised by CPI member D Raja in the Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government's policy is to promote all Indian languages.

"We respect all Indian languages and our effort will be to further the cause of all Indian languages. And we are not going to impose any language on anybody," he said.

He was responding to Raja who had said there were reports regarding transfer of the functions of Central Institute for Classical Tamil, Chennai to Thiruvarur Central University.

He further said there was a "strong apprehension that this is being done keeping in view the ulterior designs to give special status to a couple of languages, may be Hindi and Sanskrit to undermine other languages."

The CPI member demanded that the Central Institute for Classical Tamil sould remain in Chennai and function with full autonomous status.

Allaying his apprehensions, Javadekar said that the government has not taken any such decision.

"People discuss, people react, but let me make it very clear that the government has not taken any such decision," he said, adding that the institute will continue to remain autonomous.

Raising another issue, K K Ragesh (CPI-M) said the employees of Hindustan News Print were protesting against the government's decision to privatise the PSU.

He said that a proposal for modernisation of the company was lying before the government, but it was not acting on it.

His party colleague Tapan Kumar Sen said the manufacturing capacity in respect of defence production was being destroyed.

He said the manufacture of several products, so far produced by the ordnance factories, were now being given to private players.

Sen said due to this, the employees of at least seven ordnance factories will be "jobless" and another 14 factories will become redundant to the tune of 50 per cent of their capacity.

V Vijayasai Reddy (YSRCP) spoke about the menace of of narcotic consumption, especially among young students and school children.