Live
- Shortcomings exposed at Gurukul hostels & govt schools
- ‘Art from Garbage’ exhibition showcases civic workers’ creativity
- Must-Watch Streaming Originals for 2024: Top Picks
- Tumakuru implements emergency response system for women’s safety
- Sujeet Kumar elected to RS unopposed
- ACTO, two others held for Rs 4 cr fraud
- Adopt tech-based probe process: DGP Khurania
- Bhubaneswar: Four fraudsters held for operating fake gaming app
- Majhi asks new recruits to shun corruption
- Modi’s bold decision: Bommai hails PM
RTI reveals: Pledge writer is indeed Pydimarri
Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika Secretary Jampala Vishwa of Garla sought to know the name of the writer of the Pledge and when it was written from the Public Information Officer (PIO), Special Deputy Collector (KRRC) in Khammam.
Khammam: Notwithstanding the fact that the National Pledge (India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters…. ) is recited all over the country for over five decades now, the travesty is such that a majority of the students and educationists have no clue of Nalgonda-born Pydimarri Venkata Subba Rao who wrote it in Telugu in 1962. Incidentally, The Hans India reported a story on Pydimarri –National Pledge Writer gets recognition, finally in its columns on June 30, 2015.
Albeit the Telangana Government has mentioned Pydimarri as the author of the National Pledge in the textbooks released last year, the authorities concerned have no clue about the author as it took more than a year for them to find a reply to a query seeking to know the name of the writer of the National Pledge filed under Right To Information Act (RTI) by a denizen.
Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika Secretary Jampala Vishwa of Garla sought to know the name of the writer of the Pledge and when it was written from the Public Information Officer (PIO), Special Deputy Collector (KRRC) in Khammam. The Office of the PIO which has no information about the details transferred the application under section 6/3 to the PIO, Information and Public Relations (I&PR) of the district.
The inordinate delay forced the applicant to lodge a complaint with the Chief Information Commissioner. The PIO of I&PR informed the Commissioner that they had written a letter to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), New Delhi, to get the details of the Pledge as there was no record in their office about it.
Strangely, the MHRD transferred the application to the University Grants Commission (UGC) citing that they didn’t have information about it. Subsequently, the Department of Education in Social Sciences furnished the details to the applicant and the PIO of I&PR on April 18 stating that it was Pydimarri who wrote the Pledge. The Chief Information Commissioner M Ratan appreciated the I&PR, Khammam, Assistant Director Md Murthuja for following the issue to procure the information.
Though the Pledge was written in Telugu by Pydimarri way back in 1962 while he was working as the district treasury officer in Visakhapatnam, majority of the students and the educationists have no clue of the fact. Pydimarri reportedly penned the Pledge in an effort to instill patriotism among the people during the Sino-Indian war. With the initiative taken by the freedom fighter Tenneti Viswanatham and the then education minister of AP state PVG Raju, the pledge was first introduced in the schools of Visakhapatnam before it was taken up at the national level. The government had the pledge, which is in Telugu translated into all languages.
By Adepu Mahender
