P.V. Narasimha Rao received the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 2024. What is his primary legacy that the award recognised?
- Leading India through the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and establishing Bangladesh as a nation
- Overseeing the Pokhran nuclear tests and declaring India a nuclear weapons state
- Architecting the 1991 economic liberalisation, dismantling the licence raj as a minority PM
- Founding the Non-Aligned Movement and establishing India's foreign policy doctrine
Answer: Architect of India's 1991 economic liberalisation — dismantling the licence raj and opening the economy to foreign investment while managing a minority government
P.V. Narasimha Rao served as India's ninth Prime Minister (1991–1996). He took office when India's foreign exchange reserves had fallen to barely two weeks of import cover. His government, working with Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, initiated the landmark 1991 liberalisation — abolishing industrial licensing, reducing import tariffs, allowing FDI, and devaluing the rupee. He steered these reforms through a minority government without losing the floor of the House. Beyond economics, he was a scholar who read and wrote in several languages.