Dr Manmohan Singh : A Humble Prime Minister

Dr Manmohan Singh

Born in Gah, Pakistan, Manmohan Singh is an Indian economist, academician and politician who served as the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. Manmohan Singh was the first Sikh in office and also was the first prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru who was re-elected after completing a full five-year team. 

Manmohan Singh was born on 26 September 1932 in Gah, Punjab, Pakistan. His family shifted to India during the partition in 1947. He completed his doctorate in economics from Oxford and also worked for the United Nations from 1966 to 1969. He worked as an advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from where he began his bureaucratic career he was hired by Lalit Narayan Mishra. During the 1970s and 1980s, Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–76), governor of the Reserve Bank (1982–85) and head of the Planning Commission (1985–87).

Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister

India faced a very severe economic crisis in 1991. That time newly elected Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as Finance Minister. Over a few years, he carried out several structural reforms that liberalised India’s economy as a Finance Minister.  

In 1996, Singh served as the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government of 1998-2004, this is because of the incumbent Congress party fared poorly in the general election.  

Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister

In 2004, congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly relinquished the premiership to Manmohan Singh. Singh’s first ministry executed several key legislations and projects, including the Rural Health Mission, Unique Identification Authority, Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and Right to Information Act. In 2008, opposition to a historic civil nuclear agreement with the United States nearly caused Singh’s government to fall after Left Front parties withdrew their support. Although India’s economy grew rapidly under UPA I, its security was threatened by several terrorist incidents (including the 2008 Mumbai attacks) and the continuing Maoist insurgency. 

Second Term

In 2009 general election Singh again won the election and became the Prime Minister of India, simultaneously for the second time. But his second ministry government faced so many corruption charges like over the organisation of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2G spectrum allocation case and the allocation of coal blocks. After his term ended in 2014 he opted out from the race for the office of the Prime Minister of India during the 2014 Indian general election. 

Fact about Manmohan Singh

Singh was never a member of the Lok Sabha but served as a member of the Parliament of India, representing the state of Assam in the Rajya Sabha for five terms from 1991 to 2019. In August 2019, Singh filed his nomination as a Congress candidate to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan after the death of sitting MP Madan Lal Saini.

Also See: FM Sitharaman Press Conference Complete Details