
Telangana welfare minister urges underprivileged parents to prioritise education
HYDERABAD: Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Sunday urged parents from underprivileged backgrounds to prioritise their children's education, assuring them that the government is committed to supporting educational needs. He emphasised that the state government is following the path laid down by social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule.
The transport minister, along with Forest and Environment Minister Konda Surekha, Fisheries Corporation Chairperson Mettu Sai and several other leaders, attended a special screening of Phule, a 2025 Hindi biopic directed by Anant Mahadevan, organised in the city.
Speaking to the media after the screening, Ponnam Prabhakar pledged to facilitate the dubbing of the film into Telugu for the benefit of Telugu-speaking audiences, acting on the suggestion of Prof Kancha Ilaiah.
He reiterated that education is the most powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty and stressed the importance of educating the girl child and empowering women.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
MVA netas to meet soon on civic polls alliance: Pawar Sr
Pune: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said he wanted the MVA to contest the civic polls together and senior members from his party, along with those from Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), Peasants and Workers Party, and other parties, will soon sit together and deliberate on the alliance formula. Hinting at Sena (UBT) getting a bigger share in Mumbai, Pawar said, "Among MVA partners, Uddhav Thackeray's party is in a stronger position in Mumbai. Though a decision on the alliance is yet to be made, we will have to consider his party's strength." He said that after the SC verdict, civic elections cannot be delayed any further. "We assume that the process for the polls will begin in the next three months. We wish to go with the alliance, but no decision has been taken so far," Pawar told reporters. Without naming his nephew and deputy CM Ajit Pawar, he criticised the incident where the Pune District Central Co-operative Bank was kept open in Baramati till 11 pm on Wednesday. The Sharad Pawar-backed panel will take on Ajit Pawar's panel in Baramati's Malegaon cooperative sugar factory election on Sunday. Pawar said, "During Lok Sabha elections, the bank was found open till late night, and this is the second instance. Unless instructions are given by those who control the bank, why would bank employees keep it open? It is only during the election phase, and for the second time, that bank employees feel like serving the people till late at night." While many in opposition have criticised the state for bringing in Hindi as the third language from Std I indirectly, Pawar tool a cautious stand, saying, "There should not be a compulsion to learn Hindi, but students cannot ignore the language. Nearly 55% to 60% of the country's population speaks Hindi, and there is no issue in learning the language to have better communication. But there should not be any compulsion. "


Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Not must for students to learn Hindi under NEP: RSS education wing
Amid row over languages to be studied under the National Education Policy (NEP), the RSS's education wing — Vidya Bharati — has made its stand clear that it is not necessary for everyone to study Hindi. Vidya Bharati's national president Ravindra Kanhare on Friday said: 'Vidya Bharti is of the opinion that education should be in mother tongue. This is something that has been said in the 1968 policy (on education) and has been proposed in the NEP as well. No language is being foisted upon any state. It has been said that children should read their language, one national language and any foreign language. If someone is from Tamil Nadu, they can learn Tamil or one from Kerala can learn Malayalam. It is not necessary for them to learn Hindi. The NEP draft had been sent to all states.' Kanhare was speaking at Vidya Bharati's annual press conference at Constitution Club. On the issue of rising school fees in private schools in metropolitan cities, he said 'if parents create pressure, fees can be redetermined'. He also said that parents must judge whether their children are getting quality education to justify the fees they pay. 'To determine the school fees is the job of state governments. In states there is generally a system where if the fees are to be increased, it would be done through a committee under the district magistrate. If the fees are to be increased by more, a state-level committee looks into it. Parents must see whether the schools are providing the kind of quality education that such fees must afford. If the parents create pressure, the fees can be redetermined,' Kanhare said. The statement comes in the backdrop of the growing concern over arbitrary hike in fees by private schools in metropolitan cities. The Delhi Public School in the Capital's Dwarka has been chided by the High Court as having become a 'money making machine' which treats students like 'chattel'. Answering a question on NCERT removing the mention of the Babri mosque from Class 12 textbooks, Kanhare said, 'To bring changes in the curriculum is NCERT's job. We must stick to historical facts in books. We have seen in all these years that misleading information has been provided in some books. If they have been removed now then there is nothing wrong with that.' Talking about Vidya Bharti's success stories in the past one year, Kanhare said while over 93% of students of its schools succeeded in Class 12th with more than 2,500 students scoring above 90%, as many as 27 of its alumni cleared the UPSC this year.


Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Pushpa 2 dialogue on YSRCP placard sparks row
A placard with a line from Pushpa 2, which a YSRCP worker held up during party chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's visit to Palnadu, has created a political controversy, with the Andhra Pradesh Home Minister criticising Jagan over the 'violent' message written on it. Jagan defended the placard, saying it was not meant to be violent and asked, 'So, now you can't even quote a line from a movie?' The placard, held up by YSRCP worker T Raviteja on Wednesday, said: 'When YSRCP comes to power in 2029', and below that, 'rapa rapa narukuta'. The Telugu words were part of a line delivered by Allu Arjun in Pushpa 2. It translates to 'cut them down, one by one'. Police in Palnadu said they registered a case against Raviteja and have taken him into custody. Andhra Pradesh Home Minister V Anitha accused Jagan of encouraging such 'violent' statements. Anitha said the message on the placard implied that if YSRCP comes to power, the heads of TDP leaders and workers would be cut off. 'These YSRCP workers display such violent signs because their leader encourages it and uses such language. It is offensive and a violent threat,'' Anitha said. Jagan hit back, saying that the TDP-led NDA government in the state was finding everything offensive and objectionable. 'So, now you cannot even quote a line from a movie? Are we still living in a democracy?' Jagan also said the YSRCP worker in question was previously with the TDP. 'He got fed up with the unfulfilled promises of the TDP and its leadership and joined the YSRCP, and expressed his resentment. This government finds that offensive,' the former chief minister said. Referring to restrictions put on his visit to Palnadu on Wednesday, and the June 11 attack on his convoy allegedly by TDP workers at Podili, Jagan said on Friday that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was scared about 'failure in governance'. 'His impatience is being manifested in diversion politics and foisting false cases against political opponents,' Jagan said. He also claimed that he had received an overwhelming response to his tours. 'Chandrababu has been showing the traits of a dictator by trying to suppress any dissent and gag the voices of those who question the misuse of police. The modus operandi is to catch the small fry, use coercion to seek confessions and file cases against popular YSRCP leaders, unmindful of the fact that people can see through his game,' Jagan said. Chief Minister Naidu, however, chided Jagan for creating problems for the police during his visit to Rentapalla village in Palnadu district. 'Police gave permission for a few vehicles in Jagan's convoy and for 100 people to gather. Ignoring rules and regulations, he entered narrow lanes and created stampede-like situations. Jagan and YSRCP should remember why people gave them only 11 seats — it is due to this kind of dirty tricks,' Naidu said. The CM also said Jagan was siding with drug peddlers, liquor smugglers, and gamblers, and accused YSRCP leaders of unveiling statues of criminals in villages. On Wednesday, Jagan had visited the residence of former deputy sarpanch Korlakunta Nagamalleswara Rao. YSRCP alleges that he was driven to suicide by harassment from the police and the ruling TDP.