On July 24, 1991, newly appointed Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao loosened the limiting shackles of the Centre and opened the country to the much renowned 'liberalization, privatization and globalization' reforms. There were no elaborate press conferences before or after the announcement that opened the portals of the country for the rest of the world. The LPG reforms were a watershed moment in Indian history. It is termed as a glorious moment in the country's history, a breath of fresh air from the clutches of overly-restrictive bureaucracy and red tape.
First Non-Hindi Speaking Prime Minister
PV Narasimha Rao is often regarded as the scholar Indian Prime Minister who changed the Indian economy's face. Moreover, Rao served as India's 9th Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996. He was the first non-Hindi speaking Prime Minister who hailed from Warangal in Telangana, previously a part of Andhra Pradesh.
Rao was also the first Prime Minister outside of the Nehru-Gandhi family to have served the entire term of five years. Rao came into the limelight after handling important portfolios of Home Ministry, Defence Ministry and Foreign Affairs during the tenures of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
Most Notable Policies By PV Narasimha Rao Govt
The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi led to the resignation of Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and a systematic breakdown of the political machinery at the Centre; Rao and his then finance minister, Manmohan Singh, is often credited with sailing India through turbulent times. Apart from the LPG reforms, Rao also facilitated India's foreign policy by working on the relationships with South Asian countries, the USA, Iran and Israel. The seed of the much-talked-about 'Look East' policy was sown by the Narasimha Rao government and vigorously nurtured by the following governments of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.
During PV Narasimha Rao's government, India established its foreign relations by all means. Exercise Malabar, the trilateral exercise by the USA, Japan and India, was started in 1992. The groundwork for India's second nuclear test after 1974 had begun during Narasimha Rao's government, but the test was conducted under the leadership of the succeeding prime minister. However, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had described Rao as the 'true father' of India's nuclear programme.
Decades after his tenure and death in 2004, PV Narasimha Rao is considered one of India's most essential premiers because of his ability to pull the country out of economic and social disturbances. He inherited the responsibility of running the country at the height of insurgencies and communal divide. Despite all these problems, he led India through its turbulence into economic and social civility.
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