Amaravati, Feb 1 (IANS) Leaders in the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have hailed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for quoting Telugu poet Gurajada Apparao during her Budget speech on Saturday.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation K. Ram Mohan Naidu said that the Finance Minister quoting Gurajada Apparao is a matter of pride for Telugu people.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader said Sitharaman quoted Apparao's famous lines 'Deshamante Matti Kaadu, Deshamante Manshulu' (A country is made up of people, not just soil).

FM Sitharaman quoted the Telugu poet while speaking about the government's plan for the next five years.

"The great Telugu poet and playwright Gurajada Apparao has said "Deshamante Matti Kaadu, Deshamante Manshulu" meaning a country is not just its soil, a country is its people.

"In line with this, for us, Viksit Bharat encompasses zero poverty, 100 per cent quality, good school education, access to high-quality affordable and comprehensive healthcare, 100 per cent skilled labour with meaningful employment, 70 per cent women in economic activities and farmers making our country the food basket of the world," she said.

Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Steel Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, who hails from Andhra Pradesh and Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy and Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay, both from Telangana, welcomed the Finance Minister's mention of Gurajada Apparao.

Born to Gurajada Venkata Ramadasu and Kausalyamma at Rayavaram in Andhra Pradesh on November 30, 1861, Gurajada Apparao was an eminent writer and a pioneer of colloquial Telugu literature during the pre-independence era.

He is known for his plays in Telugu, notably, 'Kanyasulkam' and 'Desamunu Preminchumanna'.

The play 'Kanyasulkan' was based on the evil tradition of child marriages. It was adapted into a 1955 movie with the same title in which N. T. Rama Rao, legendary actor and the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, played the lead role.

Apparao pursued higher education in Vijayanagaram and became a scholar in Telugu, Sanskrit and English. He also served as a lecturer at the same Maharaja College he studied. While working on drama, short stories and poetry, he also began researching the history of Telugu land and Kalinga (Odisha) with plans to write their history.

He passed away on November 30, 1915.

--IANS

ms/svn