Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu to institute award in honour of his guru

Sultan Bazaar: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday agreed to institute in the Telanga Saraswatha Parishath a Telugu Bhasha Puraskar in the name of his guru Poluri Hanumajnanaki Rama Sarma. Naidu gave the consent after president of the Parishath, Prof Yelluri Siva Reddy, and general secretary Dr Jurru Chennayya called on him at his residence in the city.

In a press release, Prof Reddy quoted Naidu as having stated that the interest on Rs 5 lakh (deposited in a bank as endowment) donated by him in 2018 during the 75th 'Mahotsav' of the Parishath be used for instituting the puraskar.

The VP also agreed to the chief guest at the puraskar-giving function, following an invitation extended by the Parishath office-bearers. He recalled that Sarma had taught him Telugu when he was pursuing a degree course in VR College. He said Sarma belonged to the Nandi Timmana generation of Srikrishna Devaraya's Bhavana Vijayam. Prof Reddy and Dr Chennayya also presented to the VP some books published by the Parishath.