Andhra Pradesh - Ongole   

Freedom-fighter calls for making villages self-sufficient

Special Correspondent

Tributes paid to Prakasam Pantulu on his 135th birth anniversary

TAKING NO CHANCES: Bomb disposal squad checking Prakasam Bhavan before arrival of officials there at Ongole on Wednesday. Photo: Sreenivas Kommuri

ONGOLE : Rich tributes were paid to the first Chief Minister of Andhra, Tangutur Prakasam for his sacrifice and bravery during his 135 birth anniversary celebrations held here on Wednesdasy.

District Collector B. Udaya Lakshmi, who garlanded his statue in front of Prakasam bhavan, recalled as how he had bared his chest to police bullets during `Simon Go Back` agitation in Chennai and how he had sacrificed all the wealth he had earned as lawyer during freedom struggle and for running Swarajya newspaper.

House site allotted

She appealed to officials and philanthropists to donate liberally for construction of house to his daughter-in-law and grandson who are living in a rented house here. She said a site had been allotted to the family in Bilal Nagar here and an amount of Rs. 60,000 collected so far.

Following her call, Pabbisetti Sreenivasa Rao, granite baron, Guda Venkateswarlu, Zilla Parishad Chairperson, Katam Aruna and Ongole municipal chairman, Bapatla Hanumantha Rao promised to donate Rs. 20,000 each for the purpose.

Ms. Udaya Lakshmi promised to sanction to the Prakasam family under Indira Awas Yojana during the birth anniversary celebrations two years ago when the then Zilla Parishad chairman, Mukku Kasi Reddy and Ongole municipal chairman, Yekkala Tulasi Rao promised donations.

But the proposal fell through because officials allotted a disputed site in Housing Board colony. Congress councillor, Angalakurthi Ramesh, who lives in the adjacent plot, claimed that it was his land.

Problem area

Officials had to search for two years to find 200 square yards site for rehabilitation of the Prakasam family and finally found one in Bilal Nagar. Bilal Nagar is a low-lying area and it was the first area to get submerged in heavy rain. It was the favourite haunt of press photographers to take pictures of flood havoc whenever the town received heavy rain. Freedom fighter, Gundlapalli Adinarayana, an assoiciate of Prakasam during the freedom struggle, said that real tribute can be paid to the great leader only when villages become self-sufficient under Grama Swarajyam.

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