Remembering PV: The ‘Architect of Modern India’

(Kuradi  Chandrasekhara Kalkura)

Perennial rivers are an everlasting gift of nature to humanity. Wherever they flow, the people in the basins harness them for their use. It quenches the thirst of the millions.  The rain Waters flowing through them are diverted to the parched lands to cultivate, which otherwise would have been a desert. Flora and fauna flourish. Industries are established. All the ancient Civilisations rose and fell on the river banks and many great cities still exist.

Political leadership in any form of Government, particularly in a Democratic setup, is like a perennial river. Kings and Emperors were patrons of Archaeology, Art, and Literature. We enjoy centuries-old legacy and derive material and spiritual benefits from them.

Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao( 28 June 1921- 23 December 2004), the Prime Minister of India between 1991-96 was a democratically elected leader from the Lok Sabha from Nandyal Constituency, Kurnool district, A.P.

 As the Telugu proverb goes: Even the King is the son of his mother. (దేశానికి రాజువైనా, తల్లికి కొడుకు). Therefore people are justified in assessing his contribution to Nandyal in particular and Kurnool Dist and Andhra Pradesh in general.

In 1991, when he became the Prime Minister there were no private TV channels and cell phones. All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) were the only sources of entertainment and dissemination of information. The Department of Post and Telegraphs (including Telephones -BSNL) were the only sources of communication. The rate of literacy in the country was less than 50%.

 Narasimha Rao, as part of the Liberalisation of Industrial and Economic Policies, opened the floodgates of cell phones and TV channels to the private enterprise. That apart AIR, DD, and BSNL made considerable strides.

Telephone connections were given on demand. AIR F.M. (Frequency Modular) Stations and DD relay Stations were established, almost in every district in the country. The existing Stations were modernized. Kurnool District had two DD Stations, at Kurnool and Adoni. They were upgraded. AIR, F.M. Station in Kurnool was inaugurated by Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs on 9, May 1992.

 “The Telephone of the future?” Mark R Sullivan, San Francisco, President and Director of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraphs Co., said in an address: “Just what form the future telephone will take is, of course, pure speculation. Here is my prophecy: ‘In its final development, the telephone will be carried about by the individual, perhaps as we carry a watch today. It probably will require no dial or equivalent and I think the users will be able to see each other if they want, as they talk. Who knows, but what it may actually translate from one language to another?” (The Tacoma News Tribune, April 1953.) PVNR perhaps might have dreamt so in 1991.

 He removed the roadblock for the establishment of the Acharya NG Ranga AP Agricultural University, Agricultural College at Mahanandi. In a sprawling 400 acres of land, it is now the premier institution in the State and one of the best in the Country. He encouraged Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal (RARS) and gave it a new direction.

Evolved by Kadarabad Ravindranath, a cotton Seed NARASIMHA which he released in 1995, now earns crores of foreign exchange. Already Seed Production Centre, Nandyal, since then earned National Fame.

The National Seeds Corporation was almost in the doldrums. PV appointed his confidant and a shrewd politician Bojja Venka Reddy of Nandyal as its Chairman. The talent of trade and commerce in Bojja converted the losing Corporation into a profiteering organization.

He secured clearance for bringing vast parched lands in Rayalaseema under the Ayacut Areas of the Telugu Ganga Project, (TGP) through Velugodu Balancing Reservoir (VBR);  Srisailam Right Branch Canal (SRBC) through Gorkal (Narasimha Sagar) and Owk Reservoirs; the Handri-Nieva Srujala Sravanthi Scheme (HNSSS) through many reservoirs en-route and Galeru Nagari Srujala Sravanthi Scheme.

         Drawing water through the Telugu Ganga Project, a Summer Storage Tank was built near Mahanandi to supply protected water to 300 villages across the Nandyal Parliamentary Constituency. Bore-wells were dug all along to supplement, in case of scarcity during the summer.

         The single largest work done during PV’s tenure as PM was the extension of the Unigauge policy of the Indian Railways to Guntur – Guntakal -Hubli sections. Machilipatnam to Mormugao Harbour is one of the earliest Railway Lines (Meter gauge) in India. It was laid in the 19th Century, even before the East Coast Lines, between Madras and Howrah. Prakasam Pantulu in his Autobiography (The Journey of My Life – నా జీవిత యాత్ర) narrates his arduous journey from Rajamahendravaram to Madras in the first decade of the 20th Century; through Eluru Canal to Vijayawada; from there by train to Guntakal and then by Bombay – Madras train.

Till the broad gauge was laid, there were no direct connections to the Metropolitan cities via Nandyal. Now the entire route is connected with Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Howrah. Minerals from Hospet, Betamcharla, and Obulapuram are directly transported to Marmagoa, Chennai, and Visakhapatnam Harbours.  The decades-old demand of the people of Kurnool and Kadapa Districts, Nandyal – Yerraguntla Railway Line was sanctioned; though it took another two decades to be completed.  As this line facilitates direct links from Nandyal to Chennai and Mumbai, it is hoped trains will be introduced in the near future to these destinations.

            A Spinning Mill in the Cooperative sector in the outskirts of Nandyal and an Iron and Steel Factory at Panyam in the Private Sector was the other contributions of P.V. to Nandyal. However, pathetically they were stillborn children.

             Inaugurated by P.V. as National Highway No.18 and the present 40 starting at Kurnool and passes through Nandyal, Allaagadda, Mydkur, Kadapa and Chittoor and terminates at Ranipet in Tamil Nadu. It is called Rayalaseema Express Highway.  It runs for a distance of 381.00 km (236.74 mi) in Andhra Pradesh and 27.00 km (16.78 mi) in Tamil Nadu.

Farmers of the submerged lands of the Srisailam Project can never forget Narasimha Rao. Foundation Stone for the project was laid by the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru in July 1963. The Project was completed in 1977. Stage by stage lands was submerged. But compensation to the farmers in Kurnool and Mahaboobnagar Districts were not settled. They were entangled in court litigations. Even the Special Courts could not deliver justice in time. With the intervention of the Chief Justice of India, Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah, a Mega Lok Adalat was held at Nandikotkur and all the compensations were settled and paid at one stroke in 1993.

              On the eve of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Indian Independence, in 1972, as Chief Minister, P.V.Narasimha Rao established the autonomous Silver Jubilee College in Kurnool.  It was the first such College in A.P. and one of the earliest in the Country. It was the implementation of the Kothari Commission’s (National  Education  Commission – 1964 – ’64) recommendations.

            It must be admitted that P.V.Narasimha Rao was not a successful Chief Minister of A.P.  (from 30th September to 10th January 1973). When he became the Prime Minister there was a lurking, justifiable suspicion, all over the world, even among the knowledgeable that whether he could succeed. His National and International achievements are often discussed in the media.  Even to narrate an outline, it requires much space.

          As a Gandhian he responded to his own failures and as an introvert, whether it is liberalized policy or mortgaging the Gold reserve, he took daring decisions, calculated risk. In furtherance of establishing Gandhiji’s concept of Grama Swaraj, he brought out Constitution 73rd and 74th Amendments to achieve the final goal, Ramarajyam.

(KC Kalkura is an advocate  from Kurnool)