The Andhra Pradesh government will celebrate the 146th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Pingali Venkaiah, who had designed the country’s national flag, on Tuesday. Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy will launch the celebrations at his camp office.
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Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy will inaugurate a photo exhibition on the life of Pingali Venkaiah. The State government has lined up many programmes as part of the celebration.
Minister for Tourism R.K. Roja will take part in a programme at Nagari in Chittoor district, while Minister for Housing Jogi Ramesh will take part in the celebrations at Bhatla Penumarru, the native village of Pingali Venkaiah. All Collectors have been instructed to make arrangements for the celebrations in their respective districts.
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Special Chief Secretary (Tourism) Rajat Bhargava said Pingali Venkaiah was a Gandhian in letter and spirit. He was passionate about farming, writing and geology.
Pingali Venkaiah was enrolled as a soldier in the British Army and took part in Boer’s War in South Africa at the age of 19. Later, he got acquainted with Mahatma Gandhi. Later, he worked as a plague inspector and passed the senior Cambridge examinations in Colombo.
Pingali Venkaiah learnt Japanese and was known by his friends as ‘Japan Venkaiah’. He was equally passionate about farming and imported cotton seeds from Cambodia. He wrote a book on agriculture in 1909-1910, which prompted the Royal Agricultural Society in Britain to give him a membership.
In 1916, he published a book on making a national flag for India. After many experiments, the final design of the national flag was approved by Mahatma Gandhi in a meeting of Indian National Congress held in Vijayawada in 1921. Pingali Vankaiah was also known as ‘Jenda Venkaiah’.
He also went on to study geology and secured a diploma from Madras Presidency College. Pingali Venkaiah died in 1963.