P.V. Narasimha Rao: The Precursor of the Era of Economic Reforms in India
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556117726824 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
63(4) 616–630
© 2017 IIPA
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0019556117726824
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ipa
1 Head, Department of Political Science, Lakshmi Narayan (L. N.) College, AT+PO- Bhagwanpur,
Distt. Vaishali (Bihar), India.
Corresponding author:
Shashi Bhushan Kumar, Head, Department of Political Science, Lakshmi Narayan (L. N.) College,
AT+PO- Bhagwanpur, Distt. Vaishali (Bihar) 844114, India.
E-mail: shashibhushan911@gmail.com
P.V. Narasimha Rao:
The Precursor of the
Era of Economic
Reforms in India
Shashi Bhushan Kumar1
Abstract
Pamulaparti Venkata (P.V.) Narasimha Rao ascended to the office of the Prime
Minister (PM) of India at a time when India was stuck at its worst phase of
economic turmoil. His keen foresight had initiated India to a path of economic
liberalisation, the ripples of which are felt by the country to date. This is a narrative
of the policy of a master planner of economic reforms in India, who along with
his economist Foreign Minister Manmohan Singh, lifted it out of the economic
morass consequent upon the Nehruvian policy of mixed economy of about four
decades by initiating the economic reforms in 1991. What India has achieved as
an economic power, P.V. Narasimha Rao as PM deserves credit for, along with
his team of ministers, especially Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram.
Keywords
Economic reform, liberalisation, high command, License -Permit raj
Pamulaparti Venkata (P.V.) Narasimha Rao had almost retired from politics, but
the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on 21 May 1991 paved the way for his come-
back. In early 1990, Rajiv Gandhi denied him even a Rajya Sabha seat. This
saddened him, but being a reticent person, he did not create a ruckus and made
arrangements to go back to his hometown, Hyderabad (Singh, 2014). On 29 May,
the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met the second time after denial of
Sonia Gandhi to be the Congress President. With H.K.L. Bhagat presiding, Rao
was unanimously elected as Congress President (Ramesh, 2015). Later events
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