Engineer from Hyderabad turns village reformer
Pendyala Prasad has made it his life's goal to turn tiny little hamlet of Lakshminagar in Medak into a model village
Hyderabad: Meet a techie with a difference. Pendyala Prasad, a software engineer by profession, has made it his life’s goal to turn the tiny little hamlet of Lakshminagar in Medak into a model village.
A resident of Hyderabad right from his childhood, Prasad first decided to take responsibility of reforming Lakshminagar in 2013. “Coming from a village I knew of the problems people there face,” says the 47-year-old who was born in Chirala of Prakasam.
“Drinking water, sanitation and lack of proper educational infrastructure are some of the issues that many villages face. Before I directed my efforts into reforming Lakshminagar, I used to donate up to five per cent of my earnings towards charity, but I wanted to do something more. After having a detailed discussion with my wife, I decided to start working towards the betterment of this village,” he says.
On why he chose Lakshminagar, Prasad says he chose the village only because it was near Hyderabad. “It’s only 94 km away, which means I can go and return to the city over the weekend.”
In the past seven years, Prasad has completed 20 projects including a drinking water treatment plant, a solid waste management yard, cement roads, solar streetlights, individual sanitary latrines and a milk society run by women too. He also helped the village renovate the local temple and educated people on organic farming.
“When you start something, you need to put in some funds. I have spent rupees worth lakhs into these projects. The villagers helped too. I went door-to-door to collect the money for our initial projects. Later, when people saw our work, they started donating themselves. I also approached MPs and MLAs for government funds. NGOs and corporates too helped us,” he says.
To ensure he dedicated all his time to the village, Prasad quit his high-paying job in 2019. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but my wife Sirisha supported me,” says Prasad who has also set up the Leaders Making Academy where he trains students and professionals in various fields including sales, marketing and personality development.
A doting father to Sohan and Pallavi, Prasad also involves his kids in the village work.
Currently working on CCTVs at strategic points in the village, Prasad aspires to meet all the village heads in the State, to discuss his idea of a model village.
Volunteers during the Swachh Lakshminagar drive.
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