Bharat Ratna to Rao, Dr Swaminathan, Charan Singh hailed
Amritsar, February 9
Senior BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina today hailed the decision of the Modi government at the Centre to confer India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna to two former Prime Ministers, PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, besides to agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan.
Chhina said Charan Singh and Swaminathan reflected the voice of farmers while PV Narasimha Rao initiated opening up of the economy to the world.
Calling the decision as historic, Chhina said Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a strong decision to recognise the services of persons who were long forgotten. “All three were tall leaders of their time. Two are former PMs who deserved the honour long ago but their contributions were not recognised,” said Chhina.
He praised the PM saying it takes a leader like Modi to ensure justice to them. “The whole farming community is today delighted that the leaders who raised their voices have been recognised in this way,” he said, adding that Rao was a distinguished scholar and statesman who stressed upon economic policies which opened Indian market to the world.
He further said that Charan Singh dedicated his whole life to the cause of farmers and poor sections of society. He worked for the rights and welfare of farmers. From an MLA to minister and then on to PM, he remained a strong voice of the farmers, giving impetus to nation-building and stood against the Emergency.
Chhina said Swaminathan’s contributions to the field of agriculture were immense and he was the agriculture scientist who was a major force behind the Green Revolution and played a pivotal role in helping India achieve self-reliance in food grain production.
