Manmohan Singh, a key figure closely aligned with the Gandhi family, who played a pivotal role in transforming India’s economy away from Soviet-style controls and served as one of the nation’s longest-serving prime ministers, has died at the age of 92.
Reports from local media indicate that Singh was admitted to AIIMS Delhi hospital on Thursday in critical condition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media platform X to convey the nation’s grief over the loss of one of India’s “most distinguished leaders.”
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Singh, a Sikh who studied economics at Oxford and Cambridge, is remarkable as the only Indian to have served as central bank governor, finance minister, and prime minister, marking a historic achievement as the first individual from a religious minority to occupy these roles.
From 1991 to 1996, he abolished quotas for state-owned enterprises, unraveled a complex system of permits, and opened the doors to foreign businesses, leading an economy that grew sevenfold over two decades to become the third-largest in Asia.
Born in what is now Pakistan, Singh, often recognized by his distinctive sky-blue turban and white tunic, was respected for his humble lifestyle against a backdrop of political intrigue.
He managed the world’s largest democracy for a decade as a part of Sonia Gandhi’s Indian National Congress party.
Singh was born on September 26, 1932, to parents Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur in the village of Gah, which was part of Punjab province and designated to Pakistan upon independence from British rule 15 years later. In November 2008, he reminisced about his early childhood in that desolate village, devoid of doctors, schools, electricity, and clean drinking water.
The Importance of Education
“As a child, I walked a long way to school and studied under the dim light of a kerosene lamp,” Singh recounted in April 2010.
“I owe everything to education. It is my aspiration for every Indian child, both girls and boys, to experience the transformative power of education.”
Singh completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in economics at Panjab University before earning an honors degree at St. John’s College, University of Cambridge, in 1957.
He later obtained a doctorate at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, in 1962.
By the time of the partition in 1947, Singh’s family had moved to Amritsar, located in India’s Punjab state and home to the Golden Temple, the most sacred site in Sikhism. Sikhs constitute nearly 2% of India’s population.
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After joining India’s finance ministry and subsequently serving as governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 to 1985, Singh was appointed finance minister in Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s Congress government in 1991.
In response to a surge in oil prices that depleted India’s foreign exchange reserves, Singh began the process of removing investment barriers.
He lowered import tariffs, permitted foreign firms to set up operations, and eliminated the need for government sanction for new factories.
“Think Big”
“We were in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, and it was essential to think expansively, rather than contract,” Singh stated in a PBS interview in 2001.
A decade earlier, he had echoed Victor Hugo while addressing lawmakers during a budget speech, asserting, “No force on earth can halt an idea whose time has come.”
Singh’s tenure as prime minister began unexpectedly.
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Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of the assassinated former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, led Congress to victory in 2004. She chose not to head the government, fearing that her foreign heritage would provoke ongoing protests from Hindu nationalists, and appointed Singh in her place.
Remarkable Economic Growth
Under his leadership, India experienced remarkable economic growth, averaging 8.3% from 2004 to 2010, guiding the nation through a global recession and enhancing relations with the US. Sonia Gandhi remained the Congress president, overseeing the multiparty governing coalition, which led India Today magazine in May 2010 to describe as “a curious separation of powers.”
“Manmohan Singh was no ordinary prime minister,” remarked Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a former deputy chairman of the planning commission and former economic affairs secretary, in his book “Backstage,” reflecting on Singh’s leadership during the 2008 global financial crisis.
“He had extensive experience with international economies and had navigated the 1991 crisis. However, our situation was not an explosion of a crisis like that of 1991; we were on course to prevent one.”
Critiques and Challenges
In contrast, Singh faced severe criticism. Lal Krishna Advani, a prominent leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, labeled him “the weakest prime minister” in history.
The reserved Singh, viewed as a technocrat among a politically dominant elite, lost the only parliamentary election he contested in 1999.
After recovering from heart surgery in January 2009, Singh successfully led Congress to its largest election victory in two decades.
Nevertheless, he let down investors with his minimal efforts to promote market-liberalizing policies from the 1990s, and allegations of corruption against a cabinet member ignited public protests in 2011, ultimately resulting in Modi’s BJP taking control of parliament.
“I don’t subscribe to the concept of legacy—it is dependent on the viewpoints of those who recount it and the timing,” Singh stated in a December 2011 interview with Bloomberg News.
“In 1991, when I initiated economic liberalization, the opposition claimed the finance minister should be impeached.”
In the lead-up to the 2014 elections, Singh fervently defended his record, asserting that he presided over the economy’s fastest growth ever, which lifted 138 million people out of poverty.
“There may be ups and downs in the journey, but the path is one I laid out,” he stated in the 2011 interview. “I firmly believe it is the sole method to alleviate the chronic poverty suffered by millions.”
Singh is survived by his wife, Gursharan Kaur, and their three daughters: Upinder, Daman, and Amrit.
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