Former techie, Nagaraj Pingili, believes in giving back to the society
Meet this former techie, Nagaraj Pingili, who had given up his job for reaching out to needy
Mulugu: He was a software engineer who worked for several companies including Wipro as a senior project manager. But his affection and love towards his mother and ‘motherland’ prompted him to quit his lucrative job. By setting up a charitable trust, he has been lighting up the lives of the downtrodden people, particularly the Gotti Koyas and Chenchus in Mulugu district.
Meet Nagaraj Pingili, a native of Mulugu town, who did his B Tech (Computer Science), from Nagpur University. Nagaraj worked for several companies based in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
“I quit the job with Wipro Limited in 2002 as I wanted to take care of my mother Ravichettu Sharada Devi as she was suffering from heart ailments, Parkinson and Alzheimer’s disease. I came back to my village in January 2003. I was an adopted son of Ravichettu Ramkishan Rao and Sharada Devi. My mother passed away at the age of 89. Since, I am a bachelor I have no other responsibilities after the passing away of my mother. Then I decided to serve the needy,” Nagaraj told Telangana Today.
“I started some social work to help the poor tribals living in the remote parts of the Mulugu district by joining the Lions Club of Mulugu. I even worked as the president of that Club. But later, I joined the Lions Club of Vivekanandapura, Secunderabad, as I thought I could expand my service activities since I have a lot of friends working with big companies who are the members of the Secunderabad Lions Club and executed several activities with their support,” he said and added that he established the Priya Nestham (Dear Friend) in 2014 following the suggestions from the friends, many of them are social media friends. The Trust has been focusing on Tribal Welfare, Women Empowerment, Childcare, and Service to Differently-Abled people. It has been working towards improving the lives of the disabled through donating motorised tricycles and also arranging free artificial limbs to dozens of needy people.
Nagaraj provided two wheelchairs to differently-abled tribal and Dalit kids, 21 differently-abled persons of Mulugu Agency area are fitted with artificial limbs, provided two tricycles and one motorized tricycle through Lions Club to three differently-abled persons and also has been providing monthly medicines to a specially-abled kid suffering from fits, seizures and epilepsy for the past six months. The CSI aided school in Mulugu was modernised with Rs 3 lakh.
To reach out to the tribals, Nagaraj distributed blankets, clothes, scarfs, rice, and groceries to 125 Gotti Koya tribal families who live in the interior forest area of Tadvai forest range in Mulug district. He has also provided basic cooking and household utensils, tarpaulin covers, bed sheets and groceries sufficient for one month to five Chenchu tribal families whose huts were gutted down due to a fire accident.
During the Covid triggered lockdown, Nagaraj has provided daily essentials to 150 downtrodden tribal and Dalit families in the Mulugu Agency area. This apart, 75 families were provided with handmade herbal medicinal powders to prevent Covid-19 infection and also boost immunity. He also provided three sewing machines to single and widowed women and to a private school teacher to stitch Covid prevention masks and make a living through self-sustenance during the pandemic time.
He further rescued a 15 member migrant labour team including a pregnant woman from walking 600 km farther on their way to Madhya Pradesh, provided them groceries, and convinced them to stay back at a government quarantine facility during the lockdown. This soft-spoken bachelor has also reached out to government officials through Twitter, to seek assistance for terminally ill patients. He was well supported by the office of the Minister for IT and Municipal Administration KT Rama Rao when the call came for supporting economically deprived patients needing urgent medical care.
Referring to the service activities of Nagraj, Kasula Ravi Kumar, a PGT in Model School in Mulugu district, said, “Nagaraj Pingili is doing his best to serve the needy from this remote part of the State. He has been the beacon of hope for the most backward tribals.” “I own some properties and get income every month for my personal needs. So I would like to continue to serve the people,” Nagaraj concludes.
