Preceded by Madhu Yashki Siblings K. T. Rama Rao Name K. Kavitha | Religion Hinduism | |
 | ||
Role Indian member of Parliament Spouse Devanapalli Anil Kumar (m. 2003) Parents Shobha Rao, Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao Children Devanapalli Anil Aaditya, Devanapalli Anil Aarya Similar People Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, K T Rama Rao, N T Rama Rao | ||
Grandparents Raghavar Rao, Venkatamma | ||
Kalvakuntla Kavitha (born 13 March 1978) is a Member of Parliament and Telangana Rashtra Samithi party member. She is First Woman Parliamentarian of Telangana. She represents Nizamabad Lok Sabha Constituency and she is the daughter of Chief Minister of Telangana K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Contents
- Early life and education
- Career
- Early public life
- Telangana Jagruthi
- Telangana Jagruthi Skill Centers
- Bathukamma
- Labour and Trade Unions
- Bharat Scouts and Guides
- Political career
- Parliamentary Committee
- Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
- Parliamentary Delegation
- References
Kavitha's name is often associated with Bathukamma, a floral festival of Telangana, because of her efforts for the revival of the culture and organized celebrations for the past decade.
Early life and education
Kalvakuntla Kavitha was born at Siddipet on March 13, 1978 to Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao and Shobha. Her father is leader of Telangana Movement and first Chief Minister of Telangana state. Her father hailed from Chinthamadaka village in Siddipet District, Telangana.
Kavitha studied in Siddipet, up to 2nd grade then continued her schooling from Stanley Girls High School in Hyderabad. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from JNTU (VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology) she went to the USA and had a short stint at University of Southern Mississippi to pursue her Masters in Computer Sciences.
Kavitha is married to Devanipally Anil Kumar, an engineer and business man. Kavitha has two sons, Aditya and Arya.
Career
She worked in the US as a software engineer before she returned to India in 2004. After returning to India in 2004, she stayed at home for a while, taking care of her new born son. As first generation woman entrepreneur, she started beauty saloon business and managed it until she entered into the Telangana movement.
Early public life
In 2006, the Telangana movement got a fresh impetus with the resignation of its leader K Chandrashekhar Rao from the Union Cabinet to express his strong dissent with the Central Government for going back on the promise of Telangana State formation.
This inspired millions of people from Telangana, who left their careers to join the movement. Motivated by the commitment and sacrifices made by the movement’s leader and others who joined the movement, Kavitha plunged herself in the people’s movement.
To get a first hand knowledge of the problems affecting the people, Kavitha traveled the length and breadth of Telangana, touring the most remote villages. This journey led to a paradigm shift in Kavitha’s understanding of society in general and Telangana in particular.
The magnitude of poverty, lack of basic needs like power, potable and irrigated water, unemployment and related exploitation moved her.
Telangana Jagruthi
Despite the despair in Telangana, Kavitha observed, Telangana people had a great love and enthusiasm for indigenous art and culture across all sections. Kavitha believed that love for indigenous arts, could be a common thread to bind all sections of the society together. Bathukamma was one of the unique festivals, which is connected to the hearts of people of Telangana. By celebrating Bathukamma on a large scale and involving people from all sections of the society, she aimed to instill a sense of pride in their own culture.
Drawing Inspiration from the ongoing people’s movement for the statehood of Telangana and a strong desire to work for the welfare of the people, led Kavitha to the formation of Telangana Jagruthi in August 2006. However, the organization was formally registered in November 2008.
The word Jagruthi means Awakening. Awakening the Telangana society to a renewed sense of pride & unity was the goal. As the name Jagruthi implies, Kavitha believed in bringing the women & youth of Telangana together by instilling a sense of pride to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the region.
Telangana Jagruthi played a key role in mobilizing the support of women and youth and also large sections of the society which acted as a force multiplier in the peaceful and non violent struggle for Telangana Statehood.
Telangana Jagruthi Skill Centers
K. Kavitha took an initiative to skill the youth of Telangana for make them ready for the gainful employment. Currently Telangana Jagruthi Skill Centers are imparting training to 3500 students across Telangana and assist them in placements.
Bathukamma
Kavithamma - as local people call her, is often identified with Bathukamma, a floral festival of Telangana. Kavitha worked for decade via Telangana Jagruthi and arranged organized celebrations of Bathukamma in Telangana and Globally. Now Bathukamma is celebrated in more than 30 countries.
Labour and Trade Unions
Kalvakuntla Kavitha is actively involved in labour and trade unions. Currently she serves in the following Labour and Trade Unions.
- Honorary President - Telangana Boggu Ganula Karmika Sangham - TBGKS - Singareni Coal Mines.
- Honorary President - Telangana Rashtra Vidyut Karmika Sangham - TRVKS - Electricity Employees Union.
- Honorary President - Telangana Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Association - TAWHA - An organization of Anganwadi workers.
Bharat Scouts and Guides
K Kavitha has been elected the first state chief commissioner of Telangana chapter of Bharat Scouts and Guides (BS & G) Association. With her appointment as state chief commissioner, Kavitha became the youngest person to hold this position in the country. She is also the only second woman state chief commissioner in India. She formally took charge at the investiture ceremony held at the BSG state headquarters at Domalguda.
Political career
After the formation of Telangana state in 2014, Kavitha contested general elections from Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency and won with over 170,000 vote-majority. As she took an active leadership in the protests and demonstrations that were organized in support of the statehood movement all across Telangana. These struggles brought her closer to the people. Her massive electoral victory stood as testimonial as a people’s person and a household name.
As an MP, in Parliament and public life, Kavitha passionately espouses the cause of Telangana as well as other national issues.
Parliamentary Committee
In the Parliament, Kavitha is a member of the Estimates Committee, the Standing Committee on Commerce and also on the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
Recently, Kavitha Kalvakuntla has been nominated to the Steering Committee of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians(CWP) India Region. Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians works for increasing the women representatives in Parliaments.
Parliamentary Delegation
Kavitha has traveled to many countries and officially she was a part of the Vice President’s Delegation to Cambodia and Laos as well as with Lok Sabha Speaker’s delegation to the European Parliament to Brussels, Belgium.