Manmohan Singh dies: The former prime minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, dies in the national capital today (December 26). He was admitted to AIIMS in Delhi after his health deteriorated on Thursday.
Manmohan Singh's life journey in nutshell
Manmohan Singh was born on September 26, 1932, in Gah village in what is now Pakistan's Punjab province. Apart from being an economist, Manmohan Singh served as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor from 1982-1985. He was the 13th PM of India with his tenure from 2004-2014 and was the longest-serving PM after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Serving as the finance minister of India in PV Narasimha Rao's government (1991-96), Singh was given credit for economic liberalisation in the country in 1991. The reforms made the Indian economy more accessible for foreign investors, which increased FDI and reduced government control. It greatly contributed to the country's economic growth.
Former PM's educational qualification
Singh received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Economics from Panjab University in 1952 and 1954 respectively and completed his Economic Tripos from Cambridge University in 1957. He followed this with a D.Phil in Economics from Oxford University in 1962.
Singh went on to teach at Punjab University and the Delhi School of Economics before he joined the Government of India as an Economic Advisor in the Commerce Ministry in 1971. He was soon promoted to Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry in 1972.
After a short stint at the UNCTAD Secretariat, he was appointed Secretary General of the South Commission in Geneva from 1987-1990. In addition, Singh also held the positions of Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the University Grants Commission.
Manmohan Singh 'POLITICAL CAREER'
Manmohan Singh's government also introduced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which later came to be known as MGNREGA. The Right to Information Act (RTI) was passed in 2005 under the Manmohan Singh government, which made the transparency of information between the government and the public better.
Rajya Sabha retirement in April 2024
Singh, soft spoken, erudite and modest, has exited public life with his retirement from the Rajya Sabha in April 2024- the former prime minister and architect of India's economic reforms slipping out of politics as quietly and without ceremony perhaps as he entered it 33 years ago.
The man who famously spoke of studying under the dim light of kerosene lamps in his village without electricity and went on to become a storied academic is the copybook reluctant politician, almost stumbling into the rough and tumble of mainstream politics.
Singh, 91, hailed for putting India on the road to liberalisation in the early 1990s and also criticised for turning a blind eye to allegations of corruption during his 10-year tenure as PM, became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time in October 1991 and was re-elected for five more terms.
Singh was finance minister in the Narasimha Rao-led Congress government and continued in his post till 1996. He went on to become prime minister from 2004 to 2014. Sonia Gandhi declined requests from the Congress to become prime minister and named Singh instead, their partnership steering the country’s ship for a decade till the BJP won in 2014.
Former PM lost Lok Sabha elections in 1999
The six-term Rajya Sabha MP, however, could never become a member of the lower house. Singh contested only one Lok Sabha election from the South Delhi constituency in 1999 and was defeated by BJP's Vijay Kumar Malhotra. His stint in the upper house was continuous, except for a two-month gap in 2019 when he was given a Rajya Sabha berth from Rajasthan.
Singh was a Rajya Sabha member from Assam for five continuous terms, from October 1, 1991, to June 14, 2019, and thereafter, was again elected to the House from Rajasthan after the short gap. He has been a member from Rajasthan since August 20, 2019, and his term ended on April 3.
Singh was the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha from March 21, 1998, to May 21, 2004. He was also the leader of the house when he was the prime minister between 2004 and 2014.
He has often been accused by the BJP of running a government that was marred by corruption. The party called him "MaunMohan Singh" alleging that he did not speak out against corrupt leaders in his cabinet.
During the fag end of his tenure as PM in 2014, Singh had said, "I honestly hope history would be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the opposition parties in Parliament."
Of late, he had not been keeping good health and was often seen attending Rajya Sabha proceedings, especially during crucial voting, in a wheelchair. Known not only for his vision that led India to become an economic powerhouse, Manmohan Singh is also recognised for his hard work and his humble, soft-spoken demeanour and many considered him a man of thought and integrity.
India's 14th prime minister presided over a decade of growth and development. At the core of Singh's idea of India was the belief in not just high growth but ensuring inclusive growth, which was enshrined in the passage of several key legislations that ensured citizens the legal Right to Food, Right to Education, Right to Work and the Right to Information.
India's growth story under him began when the public servant and bureaucrat Singh turned into a politician and during his tenure as Finance Minister from 1991-1996 he scripted several bold economic reforms.
"No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. I suggest to this august House that the emergence of India as a major economic power in the world happens to be one such idea," Singh said while ending his iconic budget speech in Parliament in July 1991, thus ushering in a new era and the emergence of India as an economic power.
