Thiruvananthapuram, Friday 14 November 2008: The Kerala government will soon constitute a high-power committee chaired by the Chief Minister to consider all aspects of Malayalam’s claim to be considered on a par with Telugu and Kannada for classical language status.

Education and Culture Minister M.A. Baby said that the committee was being formed as recommended by poet O.N.V. Kurup, who had been asked by the government to advise it on how to respond to the situation arising from the Centre’s decision. The Minister, who received the report from Prof. Kurup a little while earlier, said that, on the face of it, the report appeared comprehensive and scientific and beyond any controversy.

The duty of the Central government was to treat all languages on an equal footing and take steps for the promotion of every one of them. Any stand to the contrary would only result in upheavals in the name of language, Minister said.