Why Vangara, home town of PV Narasimha Rao, is a picture of neglect

When Rao, fondly called PV, took charge as the prime minister in 1991, residents of Vangara believed their small settlement of 3,000 people would transform soon. It has been decades since, but the aspirations of Vangara residents remain only a pipedream. While the birthplaces of other prime ministers have been developed into model heritage sites, PV’s home village still struggles with basic infrastructure.

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Unfinished projects

During PV’s birth centenary in 2022, the then K Chandrashekar Rao government announced two major projects — PV Smriti Vanam and PV Vignana Vedika — in his memory, allocating Rs 11 crore for the same. But only a part of the funds was released, leaving both structures incomplete. Today, the meditation centre stands as a frame of iron rods; a solar power plant and food park exist, but have provided no local employment.

“Many of our youth have left the village for work,” residents told The Federal Telangana.

Tourism plans shelved

In 2020, then tourism minister Srinivas Goud declared that Vangara would be developed as a heritage tourism hub, complete with a museum showcasing PV’s belongings. The plan never took off. Even today, when the Vangara stream floods, the village remains cut off from nearby areas; a bridge promised for years is yet to see the light of day.

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Model village that never was

When PV became prime minister, then Union minister Rameshwar Thakur had visited Vangara and announced it would be developed into a model village. Former sarpanch Kande Ramesh recalls, “They spoke of a Tirupati Kalyanamandapam and a canal from the Sriramsagar project passing through here, but the plans were diverted elsewhere.”

After PV died in 2004, his car, furniture, books, and other belongings were brought from Delhi to his ancestral home, but the promised museum was never set up. “We pooled our own money to install his statue,” Ramesh said.

The contrast with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vadnagar, where the railway station he once worked at has been redeveloped into a tea-themed tourist spot, is striking.

Forgotten PM

In 1994, PV visited his native village by helicopter. Avoiding the red carpet, he bent down to touch the soil and said, “Though I ruled the nation, I remain Vangara’s son.” He announced several development projects. None of them have materialised.

Despite being the architect of India’s economic reforms, PV never received full recognition from his own party or state. Delhi still has no memorial or ‘ghat’ in his name; even his cremation was conducted in Hyderabad with limited honours. Telangana’s symbolic gesture of renaming Necklace Road as “PV Marg” remains the only tribute.

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Rich legacy, no successors

PV served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996, after holding key portfolios such as defence, external affairs, and home. Earlier, he was the chief minister of an undivided Andhra Pradesh (1971–1973). He represented constituencies in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra — a move some attribute to his sense of alienation from Telangana politics.

An erudite polyglot, PV held a Bachelor in Arts degree from Osmania University and an LLM from Nagpur University. He had eight children, including Surabhi Vani Devi, now an MLC in Telangana.

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Silent sentinel

During PV’s premiership, his ancestral home was guarded by 60 CRPF personnel due to Naxal threats and often buzzed with visitors. Today, it stands neglected. Locals recall staging a 48-hour hunger strike demanding a PV district, a Delhi memorial ghat, and a university in his name. They believe their protest helped secure the Bharat Ratna for him.

Former sarpanch Raghunayakula Venkat Reddy recalls that PV did bring some limited development to his village – pucca houses, CC roads, drains, a hospital, girls’ school, and police station — but major issues such as irrigation and jobs remain unresolved.

Hope for revival

Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, the local MLA, told The Federal that unfinished works in Vangara will be completed by June 28 next year — PV’s 105th birth anniversary. Plans include an entry plaza, food court, photo gallery, meditation centre, science museum, amphitheatre, and water fountain under the PV Vijnana Vedika project.

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He also assured funds for a bridge over the Vangara stream and said a Navodaya School would be established in the village, for which he has written to the Centre.

Villagers, who proudly spout PV’s achievements, say they wouldn’t settle for empty promises anymore and would like to see some real progress happen.

“We don’t want more promises or slogans. We just want real progress,” they say.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Telangana.)