Meka Rangaiah Appa Rao shortly M. R. Appa Rao (21 March 1915 – 31 January 2003) was Vice Chancellor of

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

, Member of

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly ( Telugu: ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ శాసన సభ, ISO: ''Āndhra Pradēś Śāsana Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state, Andhra Pradesh. ...

, Minister in

Government of Andhra Pradesh The Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as GoAP, is the Administrative division, state government and the administrative body responsible for the governance of the States of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati is the capital ...

, Member of

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

Early life

He was the son of Meka Venkatadri Appa Rao, a Zamindar (landlord), and was born in a Velama family in

Nuzvid Nuzvid, natively spelled Nuzividu or Nuziveedu is a city in the Eluru district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the administrative headquarters for Nuzvid mandal and Nuzvid revenue division. Geography Nuzvid is located at . ...

Krishna district Krishna district is a district in the Coastal Andhra region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is surrounded on the East by Bay of Bengal, West by Guntur district, Guntur, Bapatla distric ...

. His father was the Raja of Vuyyur, Nuzvid and an Indian freedom activist having held thousands of acres of land under his control. He married Sita Devi, the maharani of Baroda. He was sometimes referred to as the Zamindar of Vuyyuru, as he stayed in the Vuyyuru estates in Nuzvid Zamindari. Later, Prince Pratap Sinh Gaekwad married her, after she converted to Islam.

Career

Academic

Rao was Chairman of Andhra Mahasabha in 1943 and translated and published the "

Gita Govinda The ''Gita Govinda'' (; IAST: ''gītagovindam'') is a work composed by the 12th-century Hindu poet, Jayadeva. It describes the relationship between Krishna, Radha and ''gopis'' (female cow herders) of Vrindavan. The ''Gita Govinda'' is organiz ...

" in Telugu language. He held the position of Vice Chancellor of

for two terms between 13 December 1974 and 12 December 1980. He has written ''Prajaswamika Socialism Pranalikalu'' (1980) and ''Bharateeya Chitrakala'' (1987) in Telugu language and ''Land Development Banks in Andhra Pradesh'' (1981) and ''Round the World'' (1981) in English.

Political

Rao has entered politics and was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in

1952 Madras State legislative assembly election The 1952 Madras State Legislative Assembly election was held on 27 March 1952 to elect all 375 members of the Legislative Assembly of Madras State (present-day Tamil Nadu). They were the first elections held in the state following Indian inde ...

from Nuzvid constituency. He was elected to the

from

constituency in 1955 (then Andhra State), 1962, 1967 and 1972 as a member of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. He held the portfolio of Minister of Cultural Affairs in the Government of Andhra Pradesh. He was member of

in Indian Parliament from 20 March 1981 to 2 April 1982.

Death and honours

He died on 31 January 2003. The

University college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

Acharya Nagarjuna University Acharya Nagarjuna University (IAST: ''Ācārya Nāgārjuna Vișvavidyālaya'') is a state university in Namburu, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. History The university was established as Nagarjuna University by Act 43 of 1976 of A. ...

at Nuzvid was named after him as Dr. M. R. Appa Row Campus.

Awards

He was recipient of "Kala Prapoorna" from

in 1953.Venkatadri Appa Rao, Meka (1893–1974), Luminaries of 20th Century, Part II, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005, pp: 782.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Meka Rangaiah Appa 1915 births 2003 deaths Rajya Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh People from Krishna district Academic staff of Andhra University Madras MLAs 1952–1957 Telugu politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh Vice-chancellors of Andhra University