Manmohan Singh (Punjabi: ਮਨਮੋਹਨ ਸਿੰਘ; Hindi: मनमोहन सिंह, pronounced [mənˈmoːhən ˈsɪ́ŋɡ]; born 26 September 1932) is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. He is the first Sikh to hold the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian National Congress party.
Singh previously carried out economic reforms in India in 1991, during his tenure as the Finance Minister, under the leadership of P. V. Narasimha Rao, from 1991 to 1996. These reforms resulted in the end of the Licence Raj system, helping to open the Indian economy to greater international trade and investment.
In 2010, Newsweek magazine recognized him as a world leader who is respected by other heads of state, describing him as "the leader other leaders love." The article quoted Mohamed ElBaradei, who remarked that Dr. Singh is "the model of what a political leader should be. Singh is number 18 on the 2010 Forbes list of the world's most powerful people. Forbes magazine described Singh as being "universally praised as India's best prime minister since Nehru"
Childhood and education
Manmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab, (now in Chakwal District, Pakistan), British India, into a Sikh Khatri family. He lost his mother when he was very young and was raised by his paternal grandmother, to whom he was very close.After the Partition of India, his family migrated to Amritsar, India, where he studied at Hindu College. He attended Panjab University, Chandigarh, studying Economics and got his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954, respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He went on to read for the Economics Tripos at Cambridge as a member of St John's College. He won the Wright's Prize for distinguished performance in 1955 and 1957. He was also one of the few recipients of the Wrenbury scholarship. In 1962, Singh completed his studies from the University of Oxford where he was a member of Nuffield College. The title of his doctoral thesis was "India’s export performance, 1951–1960, export prospects and policy implications" and his thesis supervisor was Dr. I.M.D. Little. This thesis later grew into the book "India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth".
In 1997, the University of Alberta awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Law degree. The University of Oxford awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree in June 2006, and in October 2006, the University of Cambridge followed with the same honour. St. John's College further honoured him by naming a Ph.D Scholarship after him, the Dr. Manmohan Singh Scholarship.
Early career
After completing his D.Phil, Singh worked for United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 1966–1969. During the 1970s, he taught at the University of Delhi and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Trade with the former Cabinet Minister for Foreign Trade, Lalit Narayan Mishra. As the Minister of Foreign Trade, Lalit Narayan Mishra was one of the first to recognize Singh's talent as an economist and appointed him his advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Mr. Singh and Mr. Mishra first met, coincidentally, on a flight from India to Chile. Mr. Mishra was on his way to Santiago, Chile, to attend an UNCTAD meeting.In 1982, he was appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and held the post until 1985. He went on to become the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987. Following his tenure at the Planning Commission, he was Secretary General of the South Commission, an independent economic policy think tank headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland from 1987 to 1990.
Finance Minister of India
In 1991, India's Prime Minister at the time, P.V. Narasimha Rao, chose Singh to be his Finance Minister. At this time, 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. India's foreign reserves barely amounted to USD$1 billion, enough to pay for a few weeks of imports, in comparison to USD$283 billion today.Evidently, India was facing an economic crisis. At this point, the government of India sought relief from the supranational International Monetary Fund, which, while assisting India financially, imposed several conditions regarding India's economic policy. In effect, IMF-dictated policy meant that the ubiquitous Licence Raj had to be dismantled, and India's attempt at a state-controlled economy had to end. Accordingly, Singh, who had thus far been one of the most influential architects of India's socialist economy, slowly opened the Indian economy to foreign investment and business competition.
Rao and Singh thus implemented policies to open up the economy and change India's socialist economy to a more capitalistic one, in the process dismantling the Licence Raj, a system that inhibited the prosperity of private businesses. They removed many obstacles standing in the way of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and initiated the process of the privatization of public sector companies. However, in spite of these reforms, Rao's government was voted out in 1996 due to non-performance of government in other areas. In praise of Singh's work that pushed India towards a market economy, long-time Cabinet minister P. Chidambaram has referred to Singh as the Deng Xiaoping of India.
In 1993, Singh offered his resignation from the post of Finance Minister after a parliamentary investigation report criticised his ministry for not being able to anticipate a USD$1.8 billion securities scandal. Prime Minister Rao refused Singh's resignation, instead promising to punish the individuals directly accused in the report
Career in the Rajya Sabha
Singh was first elected to the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, in 1991 and was re-elected in 2001 and 2007. From 1998 to 2004, while the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, Singh was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. In 1999, he contested for the Lok Sabha from South Delhi but was unable to win the seat.Some opposition parties have criticised Singh's election as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, arguing that he was not eligible to become a Member of Parliament from a state where he does not reside.[citation needed]
Personal life
Singh married Gursharan Kaur in 1958. Their three daughters, Upinder Singh, Daman Singh and Amrit Singh, have successful, private-sector, careers.Upinder Singh is a professor of history at Delhi University. She has written six books, including Ancient Delhi (1999) and A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India (2008). Daman Singh is a graduate of St. Stephen's College, Delhi and Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat, and author of The Last Frontier: People and Forests in Mizoram and a novel Nine by Nine. Amrit Singh is a staff attorney at the ACLU.
Singh has undergone multiple cardiac bypass surgeries, the most recent of which took place in January 2009.
Singh and his wife both belong to the Kohli clan,though neither uses the name as their surname.
Public Image
Singh has always been perceived as a man of clean background with high intellect. He is seen as a man of few words and someone who stays away from controversies. The Independent described him 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.[48]Eminent writer Khushwant Singh lauded Dr. 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 2 lakh (US$4,400) he had borrowed from the writer for hiring taxis. Terming him as the best example of integrity, Mr. Khushwant Singh stated, "When people talk of integrity, I say the best example is the man who occupies the country's highest office.
Degrees and posts held
- BA (Hons) in Economics 1952; MA First Class in Economics, 1954 Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
- Honours degree in Economics, University of Cambridge – (St John's College; 1957)
- Senior Lecturer, Economics (1957–1959)
- Reader (1959–1963)
- Professor (1963–1965)
- Professor of International Trade (1969–1971)
- DPhil in Economics, University of Oxford – (Nuffield College; 1962)
- Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
- Honorary Professor (1966)
- Chief, Financing for Trade Section, UNCTAD, United Nations Secretariat, Manhattan, New York
- 1966 : Economic Affairs Officer 1966
- Economic Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Trade, India (1971–1972)
- Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India, (1972–1976)
- Honorary Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1976)
- Director, Reserve Bank of India (1976–1980)
- Director, Industrial Development Bank of India (1976–1980)
- Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs), Government of India, (1977–1980)
- Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1982–1985)
- Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, (1985–1987)
- Secretary General, South Commission, Geneva (1987–1990)
- Advisor to Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs (1990–1991)
- Finance Minister of India, (21 June 1991 – 15 May 1996)
- Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (1998–2004)
- Prime Minister of India (22 May 2004 – Present)
Awards and Honours
| Year of Award or Honor | Name of Award or Honor | Awarding Organization |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | World Statesman Award | Appeal of Conscience Foundation |
| 2005 | Top 100 Influential People in the World | Time |
| 2002 | Outstanding Parliamentarian Award | Indian Parliamentary Group |
| 2000 | Annasaheb Chirmule Award | Annasaheb Chirmule Trust |
| 1999 | H.H. Kanchi Sri Paramacharya Award for Excellence | Shri R. Venkataraman, The Centenarian Trust |
| 1999 | Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi | National Academy of Agricultural Sciences |
| 1997 | Lokmanya Tilak Award | Tilak Smarak Trust, Pune |
| 1997 | Justice K.S. Hegde Foundation Award | Justice K.S. Hegde Foundation |
| 1997 | Nikkei Asia prize for Regional Growth | Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. |
| 1996 | Honorary Professorship | Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi |
| 1995 | Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award (1994–95) | Indian Science Congress Association |
| 1994 | Finance Minister of the Year | Asiamoney |
| 1994 | Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award (1994–95) | Indian Science Congress Association |
| 1994 | Elected Distinguished Fellow of the London School of Economics | London School of Economics, Centre for Asia Economy, Politics and Society |
| 1994 | Elected Honorary Fellow, Nuffield College | Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. |
| 1994 | Elected Distinguished Fellow of the London School of Economics | London School of Economics, Centre for Asia Economy, Politics and Society |
| 1994 | Elected Honorary Fellow of the All India Management Association | All India Management Association |
| 1993 | Finance Minister of the Year | Euromoney |
| 1993 | Finance Minister of the Year | Asiamoney |
| 1987 | Padma Vibhushan | President of India |
| 1986 | Elected National Fellow, National Institute of Education | National Institute of Education |
| 1985 | Elected President of the Indian Economic Association | Indian Economic Association |
| 1982 | Elected Honorary Fellow, St. John’s College | St. John’s College, Cambridge |
| 1982 | Elected Honorary Fellow, Indian Institute of Bankers | Indian Institute of Bankers |
| 1976 | Honorary Professorship | Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi |
| 1957 | Elected Wrenbury Scholar | University of Cambridge, U.K. |
| 1956 | Adam Smith Prize | University of Cambridge, U.K. |
| 1955 | Wright Prize for Distinguished Performance | St. John’s College, Cambridge, U.K. |
| 1954 | Uttar Chand Kapur Medal, for standing first in M.A. (Economics) | Panjab University, Chandigarh |
| 1952 | University Medal for standing first in B.A. (Honors Economics) | Panjab University, Chandigarh |
| Rajya Sabha | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Unknown | Member for Assam 1991–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Indraprasad Gordhanbhai Patel | Governor of the Reserve Bank 1982–1985 | Succeeded by Amitav Ghosh |
| Preceded by Narasimha Rao | Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission 1985–1987 | Succeeded by Shiv Shankar |
| Preceded by Yashwant Sinha | Minister of Finance 1991–1996 | Succeeded by Jaswant Singh |
| Preceded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Prime Minister of India 2004–present | Incumbent |
| Chairperson of the Planning Commission 2004–present | ||
| Preceded by Natwar Singh | Minister of External Affairs 2005–2006 | Succeeded by Pranab Mukherjee |
| Preceded by Palaniappan Chidambaram | Minister of Finance | |
