1. Sodhana Objectives
2. Sodhana Broachure
3. First Koratala Satyanarayana Memorial Lecture, 1 July 2008

Brief resume of Com. Koratala Satyanarayana

Com. Koratala Satyanarayana, affectionately called as Com. Koratala by his friends, colleagues and admirers, was borne in a rich Farm family in Guntur district on 29th September 1923. He had a long public life spread over more than six decades till he died on 1st July 2006, at about 83 years age. Throughout his active public life, Com. Koratala has been a communist. He started his public life as student activist, when he was just about 14-15 year old. His family stopped sending any money for his studies to discourage him from participating in student/ agitation activities but he ignored the same and worked for the student causes he cherished, facing several financial hardships. He always identified himself with the poor and the oppressed. He underwent imprisonment for several years in his lifetime. He also continued his political activity by going underground to evade police arrest for about one and half years. He addressed a public meeting attended by thousands of agricultural workers in 1948 in spite of a warrant to arrest him.  He participated in several land struggles. He was instrumental in getting land rights over thousands of acres of government lands to peasant, despite strong resistance from the Government in Guntur district in the 1950s. He organized number of struggles to protect rights of peasants cultivating endowment lands. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is no major political struggle during his active political life without his involvement. He held number of public positions. Following are selected few of these positions.

 1.      Joined Communist party as a member in 1942.

2.      Member of Guntur District Committee of the Communist party from 1943.

3.      Secretary of Guntur district   CPI(M) Committee from 1969.

4.      Member of Polit Bureau of CPI(M) between 1999 and 2004.

5.      Secretary of Andhra Pradesh State Committee from 1991 to 1998.

6.      Served as Member of the Central Committee of CPI(M) from 1985 to 2005.

7.      Served as Member of Andhra Pradesh CPI(M)  State Committee from 1967.

8.      State Secretariat Member of CPI(M) from 1978.

9.      Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Union from 1972 to 1975. 

10.  Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham for 6 years between 1986 and 1992.

11.  Vice President of Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham from 1992 to till his death.

12.  Chairman of Prajasakthi Sahithi Samstha from  2001 till his death.

13.  Managing Trustee of Sundarayya Vignana Kendram Trust  from2002 till his death.

14.  Elected Member of State Legislature of AP for two terms between 1962-1967 and 1978-1983 (from Repalle Constituency in Guntur district).  

15.  Member of AP State Karshaka Parishad during TDP government regime. 

He was a serious reader and had a thorough understanding of the problems affecting the people of various walks of life, in particular  the problems of agrarian sector. He was involved in socio economic surveys carried at different points of time on rural life. He was instrumental in conducting a detailed study into the causes of Cotton farmers in the state some time in 1998. When the Government did not oblige to appoint an expert committee to find the causes of continuing farmers’ suicides in the state, in 2001, he himself mobilized twelve peasant organizations in the state, including landless agricultural workers, formed a Joint Action Committee. This Committee jointly appointed an unofficial expert commission under the Chairmanship of Justice P A Chowdhary, which submitted its report in 2002. This formed the basis for the appointment of Prof. Jayathi Ghosh by the government of Andhra Pradesh, subsequently in 2004. Such was his academic bent. He was so thorough with the problems of handloom workers that they used to consider him as part of their own community though he hailed from a farm family.
 
He was frank in expressing his opinion and never imposed his opinion on others. He accepted ideas even from youngsters when he was convinced. He was freely accessible to everyone whoever wanted to see him and discuss issues. He has wide ranging friends irrespective of their different political opinion and party. He never hesitated to experiment with new ideas, whenever offered by his younger comrades and friends.

His interaction with the people was affectionate, irrespective of their age. He used to advice many even in their personal matters.

To perpetuate his memory of selfless social worker, his admirers from all walks of life started SODHANA Koratala Memorial Research Center at Hyderabad to regularly study social science and cultural problems of the people in the state. A special wing is being built in the new Sundarayya Vignana Kendram at Gachibowli.