Venkat Raman
Auckland, January 1, 2023
Members of the Telangana Association of New Zealand (TANZ) have elected a new Committee of office-bearers for 2023-2024 at their recent Annual General Meeting held in Auckland recently.
Prasanna Kumar Mekala who was General Secretary of the outgoing Committee was elected to the post of President, while Rajkumar Reddy Loka and Shravani Beri were chosen as Vice-Presidents and Shailender Reddy Malgari as General Secretary.
Outgoing President Narender Reddy Patlola (who remains in the new Committee as the Immediate Past President) was proud of the legacy of the Association, saying that it has stood with the test of times including that of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I am grateful to the members of my Committee and TANZ for their unstinted support and solidarity. With their support and patronage, we have been able to face and ward off challenges and problems. We stand together today as a stronger organisation with sound democratic traditions,” he said.
(INL File Photo)
Service to the Community
Mr Patlola has been involved with the Telugu-speaking community in New Zealand for the past 15 years, seven of which have been with TANZ, four as its President. He has engaged with mainstream New Zealand society through community service, including the distribution of essential supplies in times of need, especially during the Covid-19 lockdown months in 2020 and 2021.
As a Member of the Executive and President of TANZ, he has helped his community on immigration, settlement of new migrants, redressal of problems faced by migrant workers and international students, blood donation drive, assistance to bereaved families back home and a host of other services.
Mr Patlola has led his team in organising religious, cultural and educational programmes of TANZ over the years. Among them are Ugadi (Telugu New Year), Telangana Formation Day, Bathukamma Festival, Deepavali and other events that have evinced the interest of not only Telanganites but the Telugu-speaking community but also others.
Festival and South Indian Federation
He has been involved in showcasing the cultural and social heritage and culinary art of South India. It was Mr Patlola, who, along with Srilatha Magatala (former President and current General Secretary of the New Zealand Telugu Association), suggested to Indian Newslink to organise the Festival of South India, the first of which was held on September 21, 2019. Its success led, after the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 and 2021, to the Second Annual Indian Newslink Festivals of South India on May 23, 2022.
While the launch of the event brought together Associations of the five States of South India for the first time, it encouraged the formation of the Federation of South Indian Associations Inc which was formally inaugurated by Ethnic Communities Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan on May 23, 2022.
The Federation has facilitated the showcasing of the cultural heritage of South India as a united entity, and in recent months, it has been granted Charity status.
Mr Patlola achieved a similar (Charity) status for TANZ during his leadership.
(INL Photo by Narendra Bedekar)
The New TANZ Team
He said that as a united body, TANZ is the only and true representative of its state of origin and people and that the new Committee has the following people:
Prasanna Kumar Mekala (President), Rajkumar Reddy Loka, Shravani Beri (Vice-Presidents), Shailender Reddy Malgari (General Secretary), Arunasri Panuganti, Ganesh Reddy G, (Joint Secretary) Chandrasekhar Koduri (Treasurer), Madhu Kumar Yerra (Joint Treasurer). The Executive Committee members are Narsing Rao P, Saya Reddy Musuku, Vijetha Yachamaneni, Kavya Masetty, Shailaja Balakulla, Sohini Madisetty, Vijay Kumar Kandagatla, Krishna Yadav Ladunuri, Srinivas Reddy Bobbala, Tharun Venepalli, Lingam Gundelli, Vishwanadhu Bala, Shashikanth Gunnala, Prabhakar Reddy Lakkireddy, Nikhil Shakhamuri, Sankeerth Reddy Gone and Venkata Badrinath Rao Jakkaraju.
“TANZ strives to celebrate, preserve and showcase the rich culture and heritage of Telangana. We are committed to bringing local communities closer to Telangana while endeavouring to contribute to the progress of Telangana and its citizens. As a bridge connecting the members of the community with their home State, TANZ also initiates change, empowerment and transformation in the region,” he said.
The new Committee launched its 2023 Calendar at Shri Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan located at 12 Princes Street in Onehunga Auckland today (January 1, 2023).
About Telangana, a Progressive State
The State of Telangana was formed on June 2, 2014, after 60 years of struggle and it now stands as the Number 1 State in India in all aspects, Mr Patlola said.
Located at the Centre-South stretch of the Indian Peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau, Telangana is the 12th largest and most populated State in India with a geographical area of 112,077 kms. As per the 2011 census, the population of the State was 350 million.
According to available figures, Telangana’s Gross Domestic Product during the current financial year (2018-2019) is expected to have reached US$ 130 billion, the eighth largest in India. The State economy is expected to grow at 10.4% with a per capita income of US$ 2700.
Services dominate
The Services Sector continues to be the largest in the State economy, accounting for 65%, followed by Agriculture (18%) and Industry 16%.
However, Agriculture has the largest labour force at 55.6%, while the Services Sector has only 26.6%, indicating the high level of technology being used. The State’s Industrial sector has only 17.8% of the total workforce.
Rice is the major food crop and staple food of Telangana. Other important crops include tobacco, mango, cotton and sugarcane.
Telangana is blessed with good water resources with the Godavari and Krishna Rivers flowing through, along with smaller Rivers such as Tungabhadra, Bima, Dindi, Kinnerasani, Manjeera, Manair, Penganga, Pranahitha, Peddavagu and Taliperu.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, built across the Krishan River is the biggest in the world.
A significant achievement
Telangana was ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It joined the Union of India in 1948 after an Indian military invasion.
The ‘Promise’ of a separate State for the people of Telangana goes back to August 15, 1947, when India became independent. The ‘Promise’ was not fulfilled even in 1957 when the ‘Linguistic Reorganisation of States’ was implemented.
Since then, the people of Telangana have been demanding the delivery of that ‘Promise’ peacefully. It became a reality in February 2014, one of the major acts of the outgoing government of Dr Manmohan Singh. Telangana is an independent State today with Hyderabad as the Capital.
Andhra Pradesh (AP) continues as an independent State sharing Hyderabad as the de jure Capital, while Amaravathi is its de facto capital.
The promulgation of a Statute declaring Telangana as an independent State provided for such sharing for ten years. ‘Telangana Formation Day’ is therefore a very important and emotional event for the people of Telangana.
Tributes by Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern paid tributes to the people of Telangana at the Maha Bathukamma Festival held on October 12, 2018.
She said that hard work and penchant for the progress of Telanganites were inspiring.
