Indian Consulate Felicitates Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad as 10th World Telugu Literary Conference Opens in Shanghai

The Indian Consulate in Shanghai has felicitated Padma Bhushan awardee Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, an eminent Hindi-Telugu scholar, writer and cultural advocate, as the 10th World Telugu Literary Conference gets underway in the Chinese city on October 24 and 25. The gathering marks the first time a World Telugu Literary Conference is being organised in China, bringing Telugu language, literature and cultural heritage to a new international platform.

Consul General Pratik Mathur welcomed Lakshmi Prasad and discussed promoting Indian languages and culture abroad. The consulate described him as an eminent scholar and member of the Kendriya Hindi Samiti. The conference is jointly organised by the Vanguri Foundation of America and the Shanghai Telugu Association, with support from the Visakhapatnam-based Lok Nayak Foundation and other cultural organisations. The event is scheduled to continue through October 25.

Born in Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh, Lakshmi Prasad earned doctoral degrees in Hindi and Telugu from Andhra University and served as a Hindi professor there. His literary contributions include translations of Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas and V.S. Khandekar’s Yayati. He represented Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha from 1996 to 2002 and served as deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language. His honours include the Padma Shri (2003), Pushkin Award (2007), Sahitya Akademi Award (2010), Ganga Sharan Singh Award (2012) and Padma Bhushan (2016).

Beyond politics and academia, Lakshmi Prasad founded and chairs the Lok Nayak Foundation, which has promoted literature through annual awards since 2005. Its recipients include Yandamuri Veerendranath, Tanikella Bharani and Dalit poet Katti Padma Rao. In February 2026, he announced that the foundation would publish books making positive contributions to society.

His public-service initiatives also include a ₹6 lakh endowment for an annual lecture at Andhra University, ₹10 lakh from his parliamentary funds for a Visakhapatnam press club building, and support for journalist Narla Venkateswara Rao’s memorial. He has also promoted Telugu heritage through the Telugu Sahiti and Sanskriti Jagriti Yatra and proposed journalism awards for urban, semi-urban and rural reporters.

The Shanghai conference aims to strengthen connections among global Telugu-speaking communities and expand the language’s international presence. Lakshmi Prasad’s participation reflects his longstanding commitment to literary exchange, cultural preservation and linguistic harmony.