Pragada Kotayya Birth Anniversary to be Celebrated as State Festival
Kotayya played a key role in strengthening Andhra Pradesh’s handloom industry
VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh coalition government will celebrate the birth anniversary of eminent handloom leader and former legislator Pragada Kotayya as a State festival on Sunday, recognising his contribution to the welfare of weavers and the poor.
The government has issued a Government Order (GO) declaring the occasion a state festival. BC, EWS welfare, handlooms and textiles minister S. Savitha will attend the state-level celebrations at Chirala in Bapatla district as the chief guest.
As part of the observance, floral tributes will be paid to Kotayya’s portrait in government offices across the state. The official state-level celebrations will be held in Chirala, a town closely associated with his work for the handloom sector.
Kotayya played a key role in strengthening Andhra Pradesh’s handloom industry before and after Independence. He served three terms as an MLA, one term as an MLC and later as a Rajya Sabha member, raising issues concerning handloom workers in legislative forums.
Elected to the then Madras Legislative Assembly in 1952, Kotayya moved a resolution promoting the production of saris, dhotis and other handloom products on traditional looms. Similar resolutions were subsequently adopted by the legislatures of Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bihar.
He was also instrumental in laying the foundation for the Chirala Cooperative Spinning Mill with the participation of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He helped establish more than 200 handloom cooperative societies, providing institutional support to thousands of weavers.
Apart from the handloom sector, Kotayya championed the cause of farmers and the underprivileged. He played a key role in the distribution of more than 17,000 acres of barren land to poor families in and around Chirala.
Minister Savitha said the coalition government’s decision to celebrate Kotayya’s birth anniversary as a state festival was intended to inspire future generations through his lifelong commitment to the welfare of weavers and society.