CM Revanth Urges Centre To Confer Bharat Ratna On Manmohan, Set Up A Memorial In Delhi
Revanth Reddy said the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies that Dr Singh introduced during that period had opened up the Indian economy to global investments and helped transform Hyderabad into a major IT and financial services hub. He said several global companies, including Google and Microsoft, had established operations in the Financial District
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday urged the Centre to confer the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, posthumously on former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and establish a memorial with a knowledge centre in his name in New Delhi.
Revanth Reddy made the demand after unveiling a statue of Dr Singh at Wipro Junction in the Financial District here on the former prime minister’s birth anniversary. He said Dr Singh, then the finance minister, had pulled India out of the severe economic crisis of the early 1990s through landmark economic reforms and laid the foundation for the country’s subsequent growth.
Revanth Reddy said the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies that Dr Singh introduced during that period had opened up the Indian economy to global investments and helped transform Hyderabad into a major IT and financial services hub. He said several global companies, including Google and Microsoft, had established operations in the Financial District.
The Chief Minister said the Financial District now contributed nearly 49 per cent of Telangana’s GDP, while Telangana accounted for about five per cent of the country’s GDP. Installing Dr Singh’s statue in the heart of the Financial District was therefore an appropriate tribute to his contribution.
Revanth Reddy said Dr Singh’s contribution extended beyond economic reforms, recalling legislation and programmes enacted during his tenure as Prime Minister, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Right to Information Act and Right to Education Act. The RTI Act, enacted in 2005, created a statutory framework for citizens to seek information from public authorities.
He also credited Dr Singh and then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi with facilitating the creation of Telangana state. Revanth Reddy said the statue incorporated a reference to Dr Singh’s signature on the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 creating Telangana state and recalled the then-Prime Minister’s role in fulfilling the decades-old aspiration for a separate state.
“Some issues should be decided by rising above politics,” Revanth Reddy said, questioning why there should be any objection to conferring the country’s highest civilian honour on Dr Singh. He said political considerations should not come in the way of honouring leaders who have made significant contributions to the nation.
Revanth Reddy described Dr Singh as a person of simplicity, gentleness, honesty and lofty ideals, saying his life was an open book and that he remained accessible to all.
He said the Centre’s failure to establish a memorial for Dr Singh in Delhi was unfortunate, and urged it to set up a memorial incorporating a knowledge centre to preserve and disseminate his vast knowledge and contribution to public life.
Revanth Reddy also directed Congress MPs to raise the demand in Parliament and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider conferring the Bharat Ratna on Dr Singh. The Chief Minister said unveiling Dr Singh’s statue was a matter of pride for him and that the memorial would inspire future generations to understand his contribution to the country.