Work

Kotaiah served as the General Secretary of the State Handloom Weavers Congress in Madras and Andhra since 1942. He held the position of General Secretary of the All India Handloom Weavers Congress, which was established in Nagpur in 1945. Kotaiah led Satyagraha Movements, enduring a 75-day protest in Madras and a subsequent 20-day protest in Andhra, for which he faced arrests and court sentences.

Pragada Kotaiah founded the Romperu Development Committee, through which approximately 16,000 acres of land from the Romperu drain were distributed to the impoverished in 1954. That was the starting point and set up example for the distribution of Government lands in the state.

Kotaiah was responsible for provision of irrigation facilities in Romperu lands in Chirala and for starting of Thotavaripalem Lift Irrigation Schema and helped economic uplift of thousands of poor peasants in several villages on the eastern side of Kunderu drain in Chirala Taluq.

He also worked as an inspector of cooperative societies, during which he studied the challenges faced by weavers and the reasons behind the failure of cooperatives. Kotaiah organized handloom weavers' conferences throughout the State, urging them to establish more cooperative societies.^[1]

Development of Drainage Facilities

He fought for provision of drainage facilities to the lands irrigated in Krishna Western Delta in 1964, when irrigated lands in Chirala and Bapatla areas were inundated in the Floods. With the result Mitra Committee was constituted. The report was kept in cold storage; Again unprecedented floods occurred in May 1969 in Chirala Area, washing away into the sea more than 2,000 people working in the fields. When Dr. K. L. Rao the then Union Irrigation Minister visited Chirala at that time, Kotaiah pleaded for implementation of the recommendations of the Mitra Committee and also got announced on the spot, a loan of Rs. 30 million by the Centre to the State Government to take up the Drainage Facilities. The Andhra Pradesh State Drainage Cess Act was enacted; Andhra Pradesh State Drainage Board was formed; took up the schemes for improvement of Drainage Facilities in both Krishna and Godavari Deltas.

Other Activities

• Member of the Governing Body of the then V.R.S. College, Chirala (presently V.R.S. & Y.R.N. College), assisted in securing over 60 acres land for it
• Member of the Senate of Andhra University from the local Boards constituency, Guntur for one term.
• Responsible for erection of a life size bronze statue of Andhra Ratna Duggirala Gopalakrishnaiah at Chirala
• Responsible for starting a Junior college at Vetapalem under the management of Bandla Venkateswara Rao.
• Founded the S.USI.T.I., at Vetapalem with financial assistance of the family members and relatives of Late Ummiti Sivaiah.
• Founded Andhra Kesari Prakasam Junior College at Chirala, forming the Andhra Kesari Prakasam Educational Society with the assistance of friends.