V. Ramachandra Reddy

Vedire Ramachandra Reddy was, in 1951, the first landlord to donate land to the poor as part of the Bhoodan movement in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Reddy, a social worker, received the title Bhoodan because of his role in starting the land donation movement of early 1950s in Andhra Pradesh at a village called Pochampally in the Nalgonda district. Acharya Vinobha Bhave, under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, started the land donation movement in Pochampally village in April 1951. Reddy gave the first donation of 100 acres (400,000 m²), later 800 acres (3.2 km²). Eventually, 1 million acres (4,000 km²) of land was donated and distributed among the poor in post-independence India.

Reddy was born on July 13, 1905, into a prominent family during the Nizam Rule in Deccan. He completed his law/barrister training at Feguson Law college in Pune. After practicing law for a few years, he resigned, began to work for social reform, and helped initiate the land donation movement in Pochampally.

Reddy died on December 9, 1986.