PV Narasimha Rao. Full name Pamulapati Venkata Narasimha Rao. Well, who does not know the former Prime Minister of the country PV Narasimha Rao. Apart from politicians, everyone who studies economics and researches India’s economic activities knows former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao as an economic reformer. But, very few people would know that PV Narasimha Rao was not only a politician and economic reformer but also an agricultural expert and lawyer. Advocacy was his profession and he specialized in agriculture. On February 9, 2024, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced to confer ‘Bharat Ratna’ on former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. Let us get acquainted with some unique aspects of this great son of the country and a learned politician who knows more than 16 languages.
Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao was born on 28 June 1921 in Karimnagar, Telangana (formerly Andhra Pradesh). His father’s name was P Ranga Rao. He studied at Osmania University of Hyderabad, Mumbai University and Nagpur University. He has three sons and five daughters. PV Narasimha Rao was also interested in music, cinema and theatre. He had a special interest in Indian philosophy and culture, writing narrative literature and political commentaries, learning languages, writing poetry and literature in Telugu and Hindi. He published ‘Sahasrafan’, the Hindi translation of Vishwanath Satyanarayan’s famous Telugu novel ‘Vei Padagalu’ and ‘Ambala Jeevitam’, a Telugu translation of Hari Narayan Apte’s famous Marathi novel ‘Paan Lakshat Kon Ghetto’, published by Kendriya Sahitya Akademi. He translated several major books from Marathi to Telugu and from Telugu to Hindi and published several articles in various magazines under a pseudonym. He has lectured on political matters and related topics at universities in the United States and West Germany. As Foreign Minister in 1974, he visited Britain, West Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Egypt.
During his tenure as External Affairs Minister, PV Rao successfully used his academic background and political and administrative experience in the field of international diplomacy. A few days after assuming office, he chaired the Third Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in New Delhi in January 1980. In March 1980, he also chaired the G-77 meeting in New York. He was highly praised for his important role at the Conference of Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers in February 1981. He took a deep personal interest in international economic issues. Personally led the Indian delegation to the G-77 Conference on ECDC at Caracas in May 1981.
The years 1982 and 1983 were very important for India’s foreign policy. During the Gulf War, the seventh conference of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in India, which was presided over by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. When India was asked to host it in 1982 and the following year when heads of state and government of various countries met in New York to informally discuss the movement, PV Narasimha Rao invited the foreign ministers of non-aligned countries. On the meetings held in New Delhi and the United Nations. Not only this, he was also the leader of the Special Non-Aligned Mission, which visited West Asian countries in November 1983 to resolve the Palestinian liberation movement. He was actively involved with the Working Group constituted by the Commonwealth Heads of Government and Government of India meeting on the Cyprus issue.
It is said that PV Narasimha Rao’s luck played a big role in becoming the Prime Minister of India. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a bomb blast on 21 May 1991. Congress won the general elections due to the sympathy wave. The 1991 general elections were held in two phases. Its first phase of elections was held before the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and the second phase of elections was held after his assassination. Congress performed better in the second phase of elections compared to the first phase. The main reason for this was the wave of sympathy arising from the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Congress did not get a clear majority in this election but it emerged as the largest party. Congress won 232 seats. Then Narasimha Rao was made the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. In this way he staked claim to form the government. The government was in minority, but Congress gathered enough MPs to prove its majority and the Congress government completed its five-year term.
PV Narasimha Rao took over as the Prime Minister of India in very difficult times. At that time India’s foreign exchange reserves had declined to worrying levels. Even the country’s gold had to be mortgaged. As soon as he became Prime Minister, he started working to improve the economic direction of the country. Under this, he started implementing economic reforms in the country by appointing Dr. Manmohan Singh, the experienced Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the Finance Minister and laid the foundation of modern India. No, the credit for ending the license raj from India is also given to PV Narasimha Rao.
Important things related to PV Narasimha Rao
PV Narasimha Rao, an agriculturist and lawyer by profession, entered politics and held the charge of some important portfolios. He served as the Minister of Law and Information in the Government of Andhra Pradesh from 1962 to 1964 and Minister of Law and Justice from 1964 to 1967. He was the Minister of Health and Medicine in 1967 and the Minister of Education from 1968 to 1971. He became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1971 to 1973. Took charge as General Secretary of All India Congress Committee from 1975 to 1976. From 1968 to 1974, he was the President of the Telugu Academy of Andhra Pradesh and from 1972 he was the Vice President of Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, Madras. He was a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1957 to 1977. He was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1977 to 1984 and was elected to the eighth Lok Sabha from Ramtek in December 1984. In 1978–79, as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, he participated in a conference on South Asia organized by the School of Asian and African Studies, University of London. PV Narasimha Rao was also the President of the Andhra Center of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. He was the Foreign Minister from 14 January 1980 to 18 July 1984. He was the Home Minister from 19 July 1984 to 31 December 1984. He was the Defense Minister from 31 December 1984 to 25 September 1985. Also held additional charge of Planning Ministry from 5 November 1984. From 25 September 1985, he took charge as the Minister of Human Resource Development. In 1991 he became the Prime Minister of the country. He died of a heart attack on 23 December 2004 in New Delhi. Steps taken for economic reforms In 1992, the Capital Issue Regulator, which determined the prices and number of shares issued by companies, was abolished. The SEBI Act of 1992 amended the Securities Act, which gave SEBI the legal authority to register and regulate all securities market intermediaries. In 1992, India’s equity markets were opened to foreign institutional investors and Indian companies were allowed to raise capital from international markets by issuing Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). The National Stock Exchange began in 1994 as a computer-based trading system that served as a medium to leverage reforms of other stock exchanges in India. By 1996, NSE emerged as the largest exchange in India. Tariffs were reduced from an average of 85 percent to 25 percent and quantitative controls were withdrawn. Foreign direct investment was encouraged by increasing the maximum limit of foreign capital stake in joint ventures from 40 to 51 percent, with 100 percent foreign equity allowed in priority sectors. FDI approval processes were streamlined and projects were automatically approved within limits on foreign participation in at least 35 industries.