Moturi Satyanarayana was a Gandhian, freedom fighter, educationist, parliamentarian, and member of Constituent Assembly. One of the nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, he was instrumental in making Hindi an official language in the Indian Constitution. He devoted his life to spread Hindi in South India. He later became a member of the provisional parliament, and Madras legislative council. Moturi Satyanarayana received several honors and awards for his selfless contributions to the country including the prestigious Padmabhushan award.

Early Life of Moturi Satyanarayana
He was born on 2nd February 1902 in an agricultural family in Dondapadu village, in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh (then part of Madras Presidency), India. Moturi Satyanarayana married Suryakantha Devi. The couple was blessed with three sons and four daughters.

Education of Moturi Satyanarayana
Moturi Satyanarayana received his primary education at Angaluru and then joined National College at Machiliparnam. He abandoned his studies to follow Gandhiji and joined the freedom struggle to free India from British rule. He participated in Quit India movement and was jailed from 1942 to 1944 at Vellore central jail for provoking and publishing anti establishment literature.

Contributions of Moturi Satyanarayana
He chose to propagate Hindi as a link language in South India and in 1921 joined Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, Madras, as a volunteer. Moturi Satyanarayana went on to become the general secretary of Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha and handled the responsibility from 1938 to 1960. Moturi Satyanarayana was also instrumental in starting Kendriya Hindi Samsthan (Central Hindi Institute) in Agra to teach Hindi to foreigners and also to Indians whose mother tongue is not Hindi. He served as Chairman of the Kendriya Hindi from 1960 to 1962 and 1971 to 1979. The Sansthan is presently under the Ministry of Education, Government of India, and has received the status of a University. He is also well-known for the Functional Hindi programme that he started to educate people to speak Hindi at their professional place which was later adopted by the University Grants Commission.

Positions served by Moturi Satyanarayana
He served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, Provisional Parliament, and also as a nominated member to Rajya Sabha for two terms, from 1954 to 1966. Moturi Satyanarayana was a member of Madras Legislative council and also an active member of the Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly (Languages). He played a major role in the debates of Constituent Assembly in making Hindi an official language.

Moturi Satyanarayana was the founder and organizer of many institutions to promote and teach Hindi and Telugu. The notable important among them are Rashtriya Bhasha Prachar Samiti in Wardha, Akhil Bharatiya Hindi Parishad in Agra, Bharatiya Sanskrit Sangham in Delhi, Telugu Basha Samiti in Madras and Hyderabad, Hindi Vikas Samiti in Madras and Delhi, and Hindustani Prachar Sabha in Wardha.

Moturi Satyanarayana was the General Secretary of Telugu Basha Samiti established in 1946. Under his editorship the Samiti published a 15 volume Telugu encyclopedia named “Vignana Sarvasam”, which is the first encyclopedia in an Indian language. “Vignana Sarvasam” was also the first subject wise encyclopedia to be published in any language. He also edited a two volume encyclopedia in Telugu, based on Telugu Culture.

As the General Secretary and Editor of Hindi Vikas Samiti he published an encyclopedia on social sciences in Hindi. Moturi Satyanarayana edited many magazines and wrote books in Hindi, Telugu, and English. He was actively associated with Krishna River Valley Peoples Association, Madras as its vice president and organizer. Along with Mutyala Raja who was the President of the Association, Moturi Satyanarayana played an active role in getting approval for the construction of Nagarjuna Sagar project.

Moturi Satyanarayana was a Member of various committees and commissions of Government of India like Central Advisory Board of Education, Central Hindi Siksha Samiti, and Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti. He organized the first all India cultural conference at New Delhi in 1950 as its secretary to highlight the diverse and composite culture of India. He was also Member of Film Enquiry Committee, Central Board of Film Censors, and Central Film Awards Committee.

Following are some of the prestigious memberships that Moturi Satyanarayana held throughout his life.
Member of Madras University Senate
Member of Committee of Preparation of Hindi Text of Indian Constitution
Member of Parliamentary Vocabulary Committee, Delhi
Member of Executive Board of Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy, Hyderabad
Member of Irrigation and Agricultural Panel, Planning Commission, Delhi
Chairman of Board of Studies of Oriental Languages, Andhra University
Member of the Committee for the Propagation of Hindi of the Government of India

Honors conferred to Moturi Satyanarayana
Moturi Satyanarayana has received several awards and honors from the Government of India and various other State Governments, educational institutions, and other organizations. Some of the prestigious awards conferred on him include Padma Shree (1958), Padmabhushan (1961), Tamprapatra (1972), and Kalaprapoorna. In his honour the Government of India has instituted an award "Padmabhushan Moturi Satyanarayana Puraskar." It is awarded to individuals or organizations for promoting and teaching Hindi in any foreign country. “Padmabhushan Moturi Satyanarayana Puraskar” is awarded by the President of India.

Awards received by Moturi Satyanarayana
Moturi Satyanarayana has been honored by several prominent awards and titles so far. Following is a list of some of the notable ones among them.
Abhinandana Grantha (1957) for his meticulous service from Rashtrapati Rajendra Prasad
World Hindi Conference, Nagpur (1975)
World Telugu Conference, Hyderabad (1975)
The Highest National Honor by Bihar Government, Patna (1983)
Telugu Association, North America, Detroit, USA (1983)
World Telugu Conference, Madras (1994)

Death of Moturi Satyanarayana
Moturi Satyanarayana was active in social, political, educational, and cultural fields till his demise on 6th March 1995. He died peacefully in sleep.

We acknowledge the contributions of Sujata Kumar- Daughter of Moturi Satyanarayana to enrich this article with facts.