Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad is an esteemed Indian writer, who has been acclaimed and recognised nationally and internationally for his literary works in Hindi and Telugu. He was the chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Hindi Academy, an acknowledgement given by the Government of Andhra Pradesh as a leading academician and also served as the Professor and Head of Department of Hindi in the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, from where he had completed his Masters of Arts (M.A) and Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Hindi and Telugu. He is also a former parliamentarian, having served as a Member of the Rajya Sabha from 1996 to 2002. He has been honoured with the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri, India"s fourth highest civilian honour, for his contribution towards enrichment of the literature domain. Most recently in 2016, he has been conferred the Padma Bhushan, India"s third highest civilian honour by the Government of India, for his relentless efforts towards promoting the spirit of brotherhood and national integration through popularising acknowledged literary works through the creative medium of translation, in Hindi and Telugu languages, in addition to writing several original works.

Literary Works of Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad
Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad"s illustrious body of work comprises over 32 books written in Telugu and Hindi and over 100 articles in various newspapers. In Hindi, his books comprise biographies of noted poets like Bhairagi, C. Narayana Reddy and Tripuraneni Ramaswamy and translation of the works of Bezwada Gopala Reddy and C. Narasimha Rao. In Telugu, he penned down the biography of Jayaprakash Narayan and translated the biography of Harivansh Rai Bachchan and works of many other literary artists. But the highlight was the Telugu translation of Bhisham Sahni`s novel `Tamas`, which he had completed in 22 days. It had become immensely popular and was serialized in leading Telugu journals. He has been appreciated by the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and P. V. Narasimha Rao. Tears were welling up the eyes of Amitabh Bachchan when Dr. Prasad presented him a copy of his father`s biography and Narasimha Rao wrote a preface comprising 29 pages, appreciating his Telugu book on Hindi Sahitya Charitra. A few of his literary works are enlisted hereunder.


•"Attadugu nundi Agrasthanam varaku"
•"Doctor Karan Singh" (biography)
•"Draupadi"
•"Harivamsrai Bachchan" (biography)
•"Kathanala Venuka Kathalu"
•"Mana Governor Narayanadutt Tiwari"
•"Puchalapalli Sundarayya" (biography)
•"Satyabhama" (novel)
•"Pakisthan lo Padi Rojulu"

Awards and Recognitions received by Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad
Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad has been recognised with the given awards and honours, for his works in the literary sphere.


•Central Sahitya Academy Award for "Tamas" (for Translation) in 1992
•Central Sahitya Academy Award for his Telugu Novel "Draupadi" in 2009
•National Award from the Ministry of Education, Government of India, for the Hindi Book "Telugu Ke Audhunik Kavi Bairagi" in 1981
•National Award from the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, for the Hindi book "Vaicharik Kranti Ke Agradoot Kaviraj" (biography of Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chowdary) in 1988
•Career Award by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi in 1988
•Best Translation Award for "Tamas" by Telugu University in 1990
•Tana Award for rich contribution to Telugu Literature in 1995
•Tripuraneni Gopichand Gold Medal by Andhra University for his work "Aluri Bairagi Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh Kavitvala"
•For "Tulanatmaka Pariseelana", adjudged as the best thesis in 1993
•The prestigious Pushkin Award from Bharata Mitra Samaj, Moscow, Russia in 2007
•Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2003
•Ganga Sharan Singh Award by Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (Central Hindi Organization), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India in 2012
•Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2016

Parliamentary Tenure of Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad
During his parliamentary tenure between 1996 and 2002, Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad not only introduced a number of bills but also earned the sobriquet, the `Hindi man from South`. For his prowess and command over the Hindi language, he was made the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language. He had introduced a number of private bills like Hindu Marriage (Amendment) Bill, to benefit women affected with epilepsy; Bill for Establishment of Permanent High Court Bench at Visakhapatnam, to speed up justice to commoners; Marketing and Other Facilities Bill, to benefit farmers, especially mango growers in the districts of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram and Prohibition of Extravagant Expenditure in Marriages Bill. Presently, Dr. Prasad is a member of the Central Hindi Advisory Committee that is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.