Visakhapatnam: Venkaiah Naidu recalls PV Narasimha Rao's economic reforms

Visakhapatnam: Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao was a legendary figure, who had pioneered economic reforms, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has said.

Paying tributes to the veteran Congress leader at Circuit House Junction in Visakhapatnam on Monday, the Vice President described PV as a multi-faceted personality, a phenomenal scholar, an astute administrator, a litterateur and multi-linguist, who had steered the country clear of the economic crisis through his art of consensual leadership and farsighted vision.

The Vice President mentioned that PV had initiated bold reforms which helped in accelerating the country's development over the past three decades. Further, he said, former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee had implemented the reforms started by Narasimha Rao in letter and spirit, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has speeded up the reforms.

"Reforms are the need of the hour and we must adopt the best practices," he added.

Giving credit to PV for ending the Licence Raj in the country, the Vice President said he was the architect of India's economic liberalisation. "Importantly, it was PV who facilitated India's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO)," he pointed out.

The Vice President said the former PM had safeguarded the nation's interests effectively on the global stage, although he took over the leadership of the nation during trying times and in a difficult external strategic environment. Recalling that PV had great love for languages, Venkaiah Naidu said among his many works, PV translated the epic Telugu novel 'Veyi Padagalu' into Hindi titled as 'Sahasra Phan' and also published 'Abala Jeevitam', a Telugu translation of the famous Marathi Novel, 'Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto'.

He said that PV had always vouched for imparting education in mother tongue in schools. "I too have always maintained that the medium of instruction should be in a child's mother tongue up to high school level," he reiterated.

Stating that PV had left an abiding legacy, the Vice President said that former President Abdul Kalam had called him a patriotic statesman who believed that the nation is bigger than the political system.

The Vice President said no nation would be able to move forward by forgetting its culture, heritage and the immense contribution of great leaders towards nation building. The lives and teachings of great men should be passed on to the younger generation, he noted.