Shri Kotamaraju Rama Rao  was born  in the  coastal  town  of  Chirala  on 9 November 1897 and graduated in English from Madras University, before joining as a lecturer in Pachiappa College, Madras. He started  his career in Journalism in Karachi's nationalist English daily the Sind  Observer  in 1919. Later Rama Rao worked for tlie Times of India and the Free Press Journal in Bombay, the People of Lala Lajpat Rai in Lahore, the  Eastern Economist in Calcutta,  and  the Hindustan Times in New Delhi. He was editor of the Searchlight in  Patna  and the daily Indian Republic  in  Madras. The pinnacle of Rama  Rao's Career was when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru appointed him as the. founder-Editor of Lucknow's National Herald  in  June 1938.

Rama Rao was jailed by the British Government in 1942  for  his  editorial Jail or: Jungle in which he h9.d exposed the police repression on the Satyagrahis in the Lucknow Central Jail. When the British Government closed down the National Herald in 1942, Gandhiji called Rama Rao to his Ashram in Sevagram from where Rama Rao syndicated his reports to over two dozen Indian and foreign journals. Rama Rao was a founder of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) and gave evidence before the first Press Commission on the status of newspaper industry in India.

An eminent freedom-fighter, parliamentarian and journalist, late Shri Kotamaraju Rama Rao was admired by many national leaders as a  patriot of impeccable integrity and great courage. Mahatma Gandhi described Rama Rao as a "Fighting Editor'', Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and C. Rajagopalachari also hailed him as an outstanding editor. Kotamaraju Rama Rao was elected to India's First Rajya Sabha (1952) from undivided Madras State and he was the First-ever Advisor on Plan Publicity to the Nehru Government in 1956. He also authored several books. Rama  Rao died on 9th March 1961.

The Department of Posts is privileged to issue a commemorative postage stamp to mark the birth  centenary  celebration of  Late Shri  Kotamaraju  Rama Rao.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India