Manmohan Singh: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

| primeminister1      = Himself

| party              = {{flagicon image|Indian National Congress Flag.svg}} [[Indian National Congress]]

| nationality        = [[Punjabi]] [[India]]n

| image              = File:Manmohan Singh.jpg

| constituency4      = Rajasthan

| constituency5      = Assam

Born in [[Gah, Pakistan|Gah]], [[Punjab (region)|West Punjab]], in what is today [[Pakistan]], Singh's family migrated to India during [[Partition of India|its partition]] in 1947. After obtaining his doctorate in economics from [[Nuffield College, Oxford|Oxford]], Singh worked for the [[United Nations]] during 1966–1969. He subsequently began his bureaucratic career when [[Lalit Narayan Mishra]] hired him as an advisor in the [[Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)|Ministry of Commerce and Industry]]. During the 1970s and 1980s, Singh held several key posts in the [[Government of India]], such as [[Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India|Chief Economic Advisor]] (1972–1976), governor of the [[Reserve Bank of India|Reserve Bank]] (1982–1985) and head of the [[Planning Commission (India)|Planning Commission]] (1985–1987).

In 1991, as India faced a [[1991 Indian economic crisis|severe economic crisis]], the newly elected prime minister, [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]], surprisingly inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as [[Minister of Finance (India)|finance minister]]. Over the next few years, despite strong opposition, he carried out several structural reforms that [[Economic liberalisation in India|liberalised India's economy]]. Although these measures proved successful in averting the crisis, and enhanced Singh's reputation globally as a leading reform-minded economist, the incumbent Congress Party fared poorly in the [[1996 Indian general election|1996 general election]]. Subsequently, Singh was [[Leader of the Opposition (India)|leader of the opposition]] in the [[Rajya Sabha]] (the upper house of the [[Parliament of India]]) during the [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]] government of 1998–2004.

In 2004, when the Congress-led [[United Progressive Alliance]] (UPA) came to power, its chairperson [[Sonia Gandhi]] unexpectedly relinquished the prime ministership to Singh. His [[first Manmohan Singh ministry|first ministry]] executed several key legislations and projects, including the [[National Rural Health Mission]], [[Unique Identification Authority of India|Unique Identification Authority]], [[Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act|Rural Employment Guarantee]] scheme and [[Right to Information Act]]. In 2008, opposition to a historic [[U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement|civil nuclear agreement with the United States]] nearly caused Singh's government to fall after [[Left Front (West Bengal)|Left Front]] parties withdrew their support. Although India's economy grew rapidly under UPA, its security was threatened by several terrorist incidents (including the [[2008 Mumbai attacks]]) and the continuing [[Maoist insurgency]].

The [[2009 Indian general election|2009 general election]] saw the UPA return with an increased mandate, with Singh retaining the office of Prime Minister. Over the next few years, Singh's [[second Manmohan Singh ministry|second ministry]] government faced a number of corruption charges over the organisation of the [[2010 Commonwealth Games]], the [[2G spectrum allocation case]] and the [[Indian coal allocation scam|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]].<ref>{{cite news|title=India's Manmohan Singh to step down as PM|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/03/india-manmohan-singh-rahul-gandhi-narendra-modi|access-date=20 April 2015|work=The Guardian|date=3 January 2014}}</ref> Singh was never a [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha|member of the Lok Sabha]] but has served as a member of the [[Rajya Sabha]], representing the state of [[Assam]] from 1991 to 2019 and [[Rajasthan]] since 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Correspondent |first=Special |date=2019-05-15 |title=Congress to move Manmohan Singh from Assam |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/congress-to-move-manmohan-singh-from-assam/article27141531.ece |access-date=2023-03-05 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in [[Gah, Pakistan|Gah]], [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj|British India]], into a [[Sikh]] family.<ref name="dr mms">{{cite web|title=Detailed Profile: Dr. Manmohan Singh |url=http://india.gov.in/govt/rajyasabhampbiodata.php?mpcode=2 |access-date=18 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207031001/http://india.gov.in/govt/rajyasabhampbiodata.php?mpcode=2 |archive-date=7 December 2011 }}</ref> He lost his mother when he was very young and was raised by his paternal grandmother, to whom he was very close.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} His early schooling was in the [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] . and even as Prime Minister years later, he wrote his apparently [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] speeches in the [[Gurmukhi|Gurmukhi script]]. [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], is his mother tongue.

After the [[Partition of India]], his family migrated to [[Amritsar]], India, where he studied at Khalsa College, Amritsar.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} He attended [[Panjab University]], then in [[Hoshiarpur]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.punjabcolleges.com/522-indiacolleges-Government-College-Hoshiarpur/ |title=Government College, Hoshiarpur &#124; Colleges in Hoshiarpur Punjab |publisher=Punjabcolleges.com |access-date=26 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://portal.bsnl.in/bsnl/asp/content%20mgmt/html%20content/hotnews/hotnews35448.html |title=Three sardars and their Hoshiarpur connection |publisher=Portal.bsnl.in |date=23 March 1932 |access-date=26 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128174157/http://portal.bsnl.in/bsnl/asp/content%20mgmt/html%20content/hotnews/hotnews35448.html |archive-date=28 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/hoshiarpur/recent/4 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712035246/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/hoshiarpur/recent/4 | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 July 2012 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Hoshiarpur}}</ref> Punjab, studying Economics and got his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954, respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He completed his Economics Tripos at [[University of Cambridge]] in 1957. He was a member of [[St John's College, Cambridge|St John's College]].<ref name=CSIR />

In 1991, India's fiscal deficit was close to 8.5 per cent of the gross domestic product, the [[balance of payments]] deficit was huge and the [[current account deficit]] was close to 3.5 percent of India's GDP.<ref name="rediff Business Desk">{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/26pm.htm |title= Manmohan Singh: Father of Indian Reform |author=rediff Business Desk |date=26 September 2005 |work=Rediff.com |access-date=3 January 2010}}</ref> India's foreign reserves barely amounted to US$1&nbsp;billion, enough to pay for 2 weeks of imports,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/tr_show02.html |title=Commanding Heights : Episode 2 &#124; on PBS |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=3 November 2015}}</ref> in comparison to US$600&nbsp;billion today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://in.biz.yahoo.com/100101/50/bauua1.html |title=Forex reserves swell 11% in 2009 |author=Mahalakshmi Hariharan |date=2 January 2010 |publisher=Yahoo Finance India |access-date=3 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103094134/http://in.biz.yahoo.com/100101/50/bauua1.html |archive-date=3 January 2010 }}</ref>

Singh's premiership officially ended at noon on 17 May 2014. He did not contest the [[2014 Indian general election|2014 general election]] for the 16th Lok Sabha. Singh resigned his post as prime minister, after the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance won the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He served as the acting prime minister till 25 May 2014, when [[Narendra Modi]] was sworn in as the new prime minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/election-2014/prime-minister-manmohan-singh-resigns-after-10-years-in-office-525869|title=Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Resigns After 10 Years in Office|access-date=16 November 2016}}</ref> Singh along with Congress president [[Sonia Gandhi]], former Presidents [[A. P. J. Abdul Kalam]] and [[Pratibha Patil]], Vice President [[Hamid Ansari]] attended Narendra Modi's [[First swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi|swearing-in ceremony]]. After the swearing-in ceremony Singh shifted to 3 Motilal Nehru Road, New Delhi. In 2016 it was announced that Singh was to take up a position at [[Panjab University]] as the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair, which he eventually never did.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.asian-voice.com/News/India/North/Former-PM-Manmohan-Singh-returns-to-teaching|title=Former PM Manmohan Singh returns to teaching |publisher=Asian Voice |date=13 April 2016 |access-date=15 August 2016}}</ref>

''[[The Independent]]'' described Singh as "one of the world's most revered leaders" and "a man of uncommon decency and grace", noting that he drives a [[Maruti 800]], one of the humblest cars in the Indian market. [[Khushwant Singh]] lauded Singh as the best prime minister India has had, even rating him higher than [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. He mentions an incident in his book ''Absolute Khushwant: The Low-Down on Life, Death and Most things In-between'' where after losing the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, Singh immediately returned the {{INRConvert|2|l}} he had borrowed from the writer for hiring taxis. Terming him as the best example of integrity, Khushwant Singh stated, "When people talk of integrity, I say the best example is the man who occupies the country's highest office."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PM-Manmohan-Singh-is-the-best-example-of-integrity-Khushwant-Singh/articleshow/6325672.cms|title=PM Manmohan Singh: PM Manmohan Singh is the best example of integrity: Khushwant Singh &#124; India News – Times of India|website=The Times of India|access-date=19 December 2019}}</ref>

 

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! class=unsortable                  | Ribbon

! style="width:8em"                 | Country

! style="width:40em" class=unsortable| Honour

! Date

! class=unsortable                  | Notes

| [[File:Padma Vibhushan Ribbon.svg|80px]]

| [[India]]

| [[Padma Vibhushan]]

| [[File:SA Order of King Abdulaziz 1kl rib.png|80px]]

| [[Saudi Arabia]]

| [[Order of King Abdulaziz|Special Class of the Order of King Abdulaziz]]

| 2010

| [[File:JPN Toka-sho BAR.svg|80px]]

| [[Japan]]

| [[Order of the Paulownia Flowers|Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers]]

''[[Pradhanmantri]]'' ({{Literal translation|Prime Minister}}), a 2013 Indian documentary television series which aired on [[ABP News]] and covers the various policies and political tenures of Indian PMs, includes the tenureship of Manmohan Singh in the episodes "Story of Sonia Gandhi and UPA-I Government", and "Scams in UPA government and anti-corruption movement".<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 December 2013|title=Pradhanmantri: Even after winning polls, Sonia did not become PM in 2004|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IOGp0bvwuQ| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211027/_IOGp0bvwuQ| archive-date=27 October 2021|publisher=ABP News}}{{cbignore}}</ref>