‘Make more use of Konkani in administration’

Panaji: Goa is a rare combination of nature and culture, said Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu after interacting with a group of eminent

Konkani

and Marathi writers, folk artistes, filmmakers and educationists at the Goa Raj Bhavan on Friday. He praised the rich literary tradition of Goa and said that he is happy to see Konkani prospering.

“Goans love music, dance, painting and art,” Naidu said.

He said there should be

more

use of the local language in

administration

. Stating that the mother tongue connects one with one’s heritage and defines one’s socio-cultural identity, he asked for it to be promoted among children.

The Vice-President called Goa a land of splendid natural beauty and praised the state for consciously protecting and preserving its pristine natural environment. Terming Goa a tourist’s paradise, Naidu appealed to the people to explore and visit such beautiful places within the country to give a fillip to the tourism sector.

He also felicitated recent winners of the Sahitya Akademi Award from Goa. Goa governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, chief minister Pramod Sawant and Union minister Shripad Naik were present on the occasion

Those felicitated included professor of Konkani department at Goa University Prakash Paryekar, head of Marathi department Sunita Umraskar, Konkani writers Hema Naik and Prashanti Talpankar, president of the Konkani Academy Arun Sakhardande, Sahitya Academy awardee R S Bhaskar, writer and parish priest of Mandur church Fr Manuel Gomes, writer and president of the Dalgado Konkani Academy Vincy Quadros and Goa University VC Harilal Menon, among others.