Sir — This refers to the article, “Re-assessing the legacy of PV Narasimha Rao” by A Surya Prakash (July 19). PV Narasimha Rao was at the helm of affairs as the Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996. The author has rightly quoted extensively from Vinay Sitapati’s book,Half lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India.
Rao brought a phenomenal change in India’s rigid ideas on Marxist-Socialist economic policy of the Nehru-Indira Gandhi dispensation. The economy remained suffocated during this period.
He also changed the direction of the Indian economy by abolishing the license-permit raj and brought about the opening up the economy by encouraging the private sector and individual enterprising spirit. It is because of this phenomenal change of economic policy via economic reforms that we are now moving towards a double-digit economic growth.