Emblem put on hold; Song gets govt nod

Hyderabad: The state government has decided to put on hold the change in design of the state emblem following certain objections raised by some political parties and also due to the legal requirements like seeking the approval of the Union Home Ministry for the new design. A fresh look at the new design would be taken after the Formation Day celebrations on June 2, officials said.

The government has received around 500 samples from artists across the state for recreating the new emblem. All the designs are still under discussion, the officials said. Similarly, no final decision has been taken regarding the Telangana Talli statue.

Artists are still busy designing the statue. The government would take a decision on Telangana emblem and Telangana Talli statue only after discussing the same in the Assembly and does not want to give any scope for misconceptions and false propaganda, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the state song has been produced in two versions. The duration of the first version of the song would be 2.30 minutes and the second and full version of the song was of 13.30-minute long. It would be mandatory to play the short song of 2.30 minutes duration with three stanzas during all official government programmes. The Chief Minister said the government had approved the song, which depicts the struggle for Telangana and will be incorporating the suggestions given by the stakeholders with whom he had a meeting on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by State Legislative Council Chairman Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad and Cabinet ministers and other representatives.

Noted Telangana poet and writer Andesri said the song written 20 years ago has been accepted without any changes. The Left parties wanted that the song should have a mention of revolutionary Urdu poet Makhdoom Mohiuddin. Revanth asked Andesri to do the needful. Oscar Award winner MM Keeravani composed music and sang the state song.