Ponnala Lakshmaiah (born 15 February 1944) is an Indian politician. He is a member of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). He is a former minister for Information Technology and Communications for the state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was also a member of the legislative assembly of Andhra Pradesh, and a member of the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

Early life

Ponnala Lakshmaiah was born in the village of Quilashahpur, located in the heart of the

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

region, into the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-speaking

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

family of Ponnala Radha (Radhamma) and Ponnala Rama Kishtaiah. He is married to Ponnala Arunadevi and has two children. He earned his M. S.

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

degree from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

in 1969. Having come in contact with the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and its programs for developing countries, he was attracted by

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...

projects in India. He returned to India and worked to generate rural employment in the region of his birthplace. With his first project, he made improvements in areas such as

poultry breeding Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers. The practice of raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typically members of the superord ...

, helping employ thousands of uneducated people. He also promoted the development of the dairy industry.

Political career

In 1980, Ponnala began working with the Congress Party. In the 1992 Congress Plenary session at

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

, he successfully handled the foreign delegates, including prime ministers of neighboring countries. In 1986, he launched a protest under the name "Samagra Pochampad Karyacharana Samithi" and worked with District Leaders to modify the

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

scheme to benefit the chronically drought-prone area. Prime Minister

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, and statesman from the Indian National Congress who served as the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first p ...

laid the foundation on 30 June 1993. The project was under execution in "Jalayagnam" at a cost of Rs. 30 billion. He served four terms in the Assembly from the Jangaon Constituency in

Warangal District Warangal district (formerly Warangal Rural district) is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district shares boundaries with Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Hanamkonda, Mulugu and Bhupalpally districts. As of June 2021, Hanamkonda tenta ...

. On 11 March 2014, he was named president of the newly created

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee {{Infobox Indian Political Party , colorcode = {{party color, Indian National Congress , party_name = Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee , native_name = , party_logo = , president = Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud ...

(TPCC). On 13 October 2023, he submitted his resignation to the Indian National Congress(INC). On 16 October 2023, he joined Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Ponnala Foundation

Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that the Ponnala Foundation started by him would give away awards to mathematics genius every year in memory of the Indian math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan, in order to promote the subject among children."Ponnala Foundation Mathematics Genius Award"
''TSI''. 2016-04-11.

Awards

*Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Alumnus –

(School of business) – Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakshmaiah, Ponnala State cabinet ministers of Andhra Pradesh People from Hanamkonda district Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1985–1989 Living people 1944 births Oklahoma State University alumni Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1999–2004 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 2004–2009 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 2009–2014 Presidents of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Indian National Congress politicians from Telangana Bharat Rashtra Samithi politicians