Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passes away, at 92
27 Dec 2024
Manmohan Singh, former prime minister of India, who is also widely considered as the architect of India’s economic policy liberalisation, died on Thursday night. He was aged 92.
Singh, who was ailing, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi late on Thursday.
According to an AIIMS statement, his health deteriorated due to “sudden loss of consciousness at home.” His ailment and medical conditions were age-related, the statement added.
Singh who was India’s prime minister for two successive terms between 2004 and 2014, also served as finance minister in the previous ministry headed by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.
It was in the 1990s, during the prime ministership of Narasimha Rao, that India started looking at policy liberalisation as a means to economic growth and development.
Singh, an economist-turned-politician, had, earlier, served as governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
A soft spoken, mild-mannered politician, Manmohan Singh was also a man of great personal integrity.
He rose from humble origins and as prime minister, made great efforts to improve the country’s economy and the lives of people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Manmohan Singh’s efforts as Prime Minister to improve people’s lives. Modi, in a post on X, described Singh’s interventions in Parliament as “insightful” and said “his wisdom and humility were always visible”.
Born in 1932 into a poor family in western Punjab, which is now part of Pakistan, Singh overcame several odds to secure admission to Cambridge University. Later, earned a doctorate from Oxford.
A renowned economist, he was appointed as governor of the Reserve Bank of India and advise to the government. In 1991, Singh was made India’s finance minister.
During that tenure, Singh showed great courage to save India’s economy from a severe balance of payments crisis. He also dergulated several sectors of the economy to attract foreign investment.
And, in 2004, Singh became prime minister as leader of the centre-left coalition Sonia Gandhi decides to opt out of prime ministership and select a non-controversial leader for the job.
Singh succeeded in turning around the economy. His government also launched several schemes aimed at people’s welfare and employment generation.
Perhaps, the greatest success of the Manmohan Singh government was the 2008 deal with the nuclear club that permitted peaceful trade in nuclear energy with the United States, which, in turn boosted ties with Washington.