Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh was a prominent Indian economist, bureaucrat, and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014.

Singh was a member of the Indian National Congress. He was the first and remains the only Sikh to hold this office. He was also the fourth longest-serving Prime Minister in Indian history. His career spanned decades of intense economic and political change.

Singh's early life was shaped by significant historical shifts. He was born on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab, British India. His parents were Gurmukh Singh Kohli and Amrit Kaur. His family were Punjabi Sikh dried fruit traders. His mother died when he was very young. He was raised by his grandmother, Jamna Devi. During the 1947 Partition of India, his family migrated to India. They first moved to Haldwani and then to Amritsar.

Singh's education was rooted in his heritage. He studied Urdu and Punjabi at a local gurdwara. Later, he attended Hindu College in Amritsar.

Academic excellence defined Singh's early professional years. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Economics from Panjab University in 1952 and 1954. He stood first throughout his academic career. In 1957, he completed his Economics Tripos at the University of Cambridge. He later earned a DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1960. His doctoral thesis focused on India's export performance.

After his studies, he worked as a lecturer at Panjab University. He also served the United Nations from 1966 to 1969.

Singh held many high-level bureaucratic positions before entering politics. He served as Chief Economic Advisor from 1972 to 1976. From 1982 to 1985, he was the governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He also served as the head of the Planning Commission from 1985 to 1987. In 1991, Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao appointed him Finance Minister. This appointment marked the start of his political career.

He was tasked with managing a serious economic crisis.

As Finance Minister, Singh implemented major structural reforms. In 1991, India's fiscal deficit was nearly 8.5 percent of its GDP. Foreign reserves were only about US$1 billion. This was only enough to pay for two weeks of imports. Singh helped move the economy from a socialist model to a capitalistic one. He abolished the "license raj," which had limited private business growth. He also reduced state control and lowered import taxes. These reforms helped to liberalize the Indian economy.

His work earned him a global reputation as a reform-minded economist.

In 2004, Singh became Prime Minister after the United Progressive Alliance won the election. Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the alliance, chose him for the role. His first term included many significant social projects. He helped start the National Rural Health Mission in 2005. This program mobilized half a million community health workers. He also oversaw the Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.

He also worked on the Right to Information Act. These laws aimed to improve transparency and support for citizens.

During his leadership, the Indian economy experienced rapid growth. Under his ministry, the economy grew at a rate of 8 to 9 percent. In 2007, India reached a 9 percent GDP growth rate. This made India the second fastest-growing major economy in the world.

Singh also helped found the BRICS group in 2009. His second term saw political challenges and scandals. However, he remained a significant figure in international relations. He met many world leaders to strengthen India's global position.