The Congress rank and file recalled the contributions made by former Prime Minister late P.V. Narasimha Rao in bringing in economic reforms and liberalisation that changed the destination of the country forever.
Speakers including former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was the Finance Minister during PV’s tenure, former Union Ministers P. Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh recalled the bold decisions taken by Narasimha Rao at a time when the country was undergoing worst economic crisis that paved the way for India to become the fifth economic super power.
They were participating in a virtual meeting convened by the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee to mark the launch of the centenary celebrations of PV on Friday coinciding with the day on which Narasimha Rao government presented its first budget ushering in path breaking economic reforms 29 years ago in 1991.
Mr. Mukherjee said it was PV who recognized the inefficiency in the public sector which was enjoying commanding respect and ushered in radical reforms. “He was the second Prime Minister to introduce radical reforms to harness the potential for growth in the country,” he said.
PV became the Prime Minister at a crucial time when the foreign exchange reserves plummeted and there was political instability. There was uncertainty too as the government was a coalition of parties with divergent views.
Dr. Singh recalled how he presented the budget on July 24, 1991, that changed the country in many ways. “He (PV) gave me the freedom to roll out the reforms. He knew what was ailing the economy. It was real tough decision in 1991 when forex reserves were down bringing the economy to a precipice,” he said.
While economic reforms and liberalisation were PV’s biggest contributions, the foreign affairs during his time was also worth mentioning. “The Look East policy was his brainchild to foster friendly ties with the south Asian region,” he said. One of the major features of Narasimha Rao was his resolve to take the Opposition into confidence on crucial matters as could be seen from his decision to depute former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
Mr. Chidambaram said July 24, 1991 was not just remembered for economic reforms, but also for the new industrial policy that was introduced the same day. “He broke away from the path which we followed for nearly 50 years. One can understand how difficult it was to break away from what we call Nehruvian path,” he said.
Mr. Ramesh recalled how PV took over the reign during the most difficult of circumstances and took unpopular decisions like two-step devaluation of the rupee. He readily accepted the bold trade policy which was entirely different and allowed reforms in the sector to continue. “The manner in which he said we are embarking on a long journey, Mahaprasthana, responding to opposition’s queries symbolized the erudition of PV,” he said. Leave alone the opposition, people in the Congress too were not entirely convinced of the reforms, but Narasimha Rao put his foot down and pursued the middle path which he described as change with continuity.
Narasimha Rao’s brother P.V. Manohar Rao stressed the need for organising similar celebrations at the national level to ensure that youth and coming generations were educated about the contributions made by the former Prime Minister. PV centenary celebrations committee chairperson J. Geetha Reddy welcomed the participants and TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and others spoke.