AP Govt Sanctions 75 Lakh Financial Aid To Pingali Venkaiah's Family

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy interacted with the nonagenarian daughter and the descendants of the designer of the Indian flag, Pingali Venkaiah. The state government on Friday doled out financial assistance of Rs 75 lakh to Venkaiah’s daughter, Ghantasala Sita Mahalakshmi.

“The government hereby sanctions an amount of Rs 75 lakh as financial assistance to Ghantasala Sita Mahalakshmi, the daughter of Pingali Venkaiah, under the culture department’s head of account,” said an official.

The development comes as good news for 99-year-old Mahalakshmi, who is struggling to talk and is in a feeble condition, on the very same day when Reddy sought the highest civilian award in the country, the Bharat Ratna (posthumous), for Venkaiah.

“His life and works largely remain unrecognized. He breathed his last on July 4, 1963. The country has lost several decades without recognizing the untiring efforts of her son Venkaiah who gifted it the first design and specimen of the national flag,” Reddy noted in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Venkaiah was born on August 2, 1876, in Bhatlapenumarru village near Machilipatnam in the Krishna district.