Freedom fighter Gadicherla remembered

Vijayawada (NTR district): Gadicherla Harisarvottama Rao was the pioneer in building library movement in the country and was hailed as the father of library movement, said Gadicherla Foundation chairman Kuradi Chandrasekhara Kalkura, while addressing a meeting organised at Harisarvottama Bhavan.

Andhra Pradesh Libraries Association has organised the meeting here on Tuesday in connection with 63rd death anniversary of freedom fighter Gadicherla Harisarvottama Rao. Foundation general secretary Ravi Sarada presiding over the meeting recalled the association of her father Paturi Nagabhushanam with Gadicherla. She said that it was the first time a building was named after a living person in 1949 recognising his service to the library movement.

Chandrasekhara Kalkura recalled that Harisarvottama Rao was called Andhra Tilak for his path-breaking ideology during freedom struggle. He exhorted people to take inspiration from him by reading about him in the history books.

Writer and retired bank manager Kopparti Rambabu recalled the great services of Gadicherla and how he was hailed by his contemporaries during the freedom movement. "Generally, people say that there is no temple for Goddess Saraswati. In fact, all Grandhalayams are temples of Saraswati," he said. After a miserable life during the jail term, Gadicherla did not get disheartened but continued the freedom fight after his release from the jail, he remarked.

Joint director of Information and Public Relations department P Kiran Kumar said that Gadicherla was instrumental in building the library movement across the country. He recalled that Gadicherla wrote a number of articles on various issues during his lifetime.