Former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh as well as agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday.
The government had earlier announced the country’s highest civilian honour for LK Advani and Karpoori Thakur. “Narasimha Rao steered India through critical transformations and also enriched its cultural and intellectual heritage,” Modi said on X.
Rao’s visionary leadership, Modi said, was instrumental in making India economically advanced and laid a solid foundation for its prosperity, growth.
“Bharat Ratna to Charan Singh dedicated to his incomparable contribution to the country,” the prime minister said.
“Swaminathan made monumental contributions to the country in agriculture and farmers’ welfare,” Modi said.
He played a pivotal role in helping India achieve self-reliance in agriculture and made outstanding efforts in modernising it, the prime minister said.
A close look at these personalities
Chaudhury Charan Singh (December 23 1902- May 29 1987)- Known to be a freedom fighter who was motivated by Mahatma Gandhi, Singh served as the fifth prime minister of the country. He hailed from Uttar Pradesh. His dedication towards the welfare of farmers was unquestionable, which is mentioned by PM Modi too in his speech. Singh got national recognition in 1959 for speaking against Jawaharlal Nehru’s socialist land reforms in the Nagpur Congress Session. His fight for the middle peasant communities — Singh belonged to a peasant family — was noteworthy. He advocated for government employees’ demands of increased wages and dearness allowances. He defected from the Congress in 1967 and became the first non-Congress CM of Uttar Pradesh.
PV Narsimha Rao (June 28 1921- December 23, 2004)- Former prime minister of India was a notable Congress figure. Besides ushering in a new era of economic development — as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly mentioned in his post on X — Rao’s contribution to India’s foreign policy, language and education sectors are insurmountable. He underscored intellectual and cultural integrity towards the nation through his statesmanship. He was the ninth prime minister of India who hailed from undivided Andhra Pradesh. He was incharge of the country from 1991 to 1996. It was Rao who brought globalisation, liberatisation and privatization in 1991 when India was going through a tough time in terms of foreign reserves. The first one to represent South India as a prime minister, Rao was a lawyer by profession. He was one among those who spearheaded Hyderabad’s Vande Mataram movement in late 1930s. And the culmination of the movement saw him as a full-time politician. He became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1971 and was known to be a loyalist of Indira Gandhi. After serving the state and nation in various capacities, at a time when he decided to retire, Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination caused him to take a U-turn and, thus, became the maiden Congress PM outside the Nehru-Gandhi family.
MS Swaminathan (7 August 1925 – 28 September 2023)- He played an instrumental role in helping India achieve self-reliance in agriculture during challenging times and made outstanding efforts towards modernizing Indian agriculture. He ushered in the green revolution in the 1960s and worked towards making the nation self-reliant in terms of food production. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Swaminathan turned towards the agrarian sector of the society after witnessing the Bengal famine of 1943. His gift to the country was the introduction of high-yielding crop varieties that helped India when it was grappling with poverty and lack of social security. He even advocated for farmer’s rights and welfare. He played a pivotal role in formulating the National Farmers Welfare Policy. Swaminathan’s introduction of measures such as paying farmers MSP +50 per cent of cultivation cost +C2 ensured economic viability. His contribution to India’s food production sector is undisputable.
Follow us
