Amaravati, Feb 1 (PTI) Gurajada Apparao, whose famous line “Desamante matti kaadoyi, Desamante manushuloyi” (A country is not just land, but its people) was referenced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget speech on Saturday, was an eminent writer and a pioneer of colloquial Telugu literature during the pre-independence era.

Born in 1862 in Andhra Pradesh, he wrote the famous drama 'Kanya Sulkam,' a remarkable play on evil traditions of child marriages in those days.

He worked as a Lecturer at M.R. College, Vizianagaram. Kanyasulkam, his masterpiece, was adapted into a 1955 movie in which NT Rama Rao, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, played the lead role.

According to the Vizianagaram District official website, he died on November 30, 1915, and the house where he resided is located adjacent to Vizianagaram Fort. PTI GDK ADB

Social reform legacy: Gurajada Apparao's opposition to child marriage highlighted in a recent budget reference. Gurajada Apparao's literary and social reform legacy was invoked in a national budget speech to underscore his opposition to entrenched social evils. His landmark play Kanyasulkam is identified as a sustained critique of practices such as child marriage, exemplifying Gurajada's reformist purpose, and the work's cultural reach is noted through a mid twentieth century film adaptation.