Senior Congress leader and former Union minister M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday urged the Narendra Modi government to take steps for inclusion of Kannada as a classical language on the Unesco list.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, he said Kannada is an ancient language and was accorded classical language status by the Central government in 2008.

He hailed Kannada language for its “vastness and depth” saying that the World Economic Forum has also acknowledged Kannada’s “formidable presence” in its World Power Language Index, 2016.

“But Unesco has not yet given it classical language status. I would urge the Human Resource Development Ministry to take up the matter with the Unesco for inclusion of Kannada on its list of classical languages,” Moily said.