
Manmohan Singh, a well-respected confidant of the Gandhi family who transformed 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.
According to local media, Singh was admitted to AIIMS Delhi hospital on Thursday in a critical state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed the nation’s grief over the departure of one of India’s “most distinguished leaders” via a post on social media platform X.
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Singh, a Sikh who studied economics at both Oxford and Cambridge universities, holds a unique distinction as the only Indian to have held the roles of central bank governor, finance minister, and prime minister, making him the first from a religious minority to achieve this.
From 1991 to 1996, he eliminated quotas for state-owned enterprises, dismantled a complex system of permits, and welcomed foreign corporations, leading an economy that grew sevenfold over twenty years, becoming Asia’s third-largest.
Born in what is currently Pakistan, Singh, often recognized by his signature sky-blue turban and white tunic, was celebrated for his simple lifestyle amidst a landscape filled with political controversies.
He led the world’s largest democracy for a decade as 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, then part of Punjab, which became part of Pakistan upon independence from British colonial rule 15 years later. In November 2008, he reminisced about his early years in that impoverished village, which lacked doctors, schools, electricity, and clean drinking water.
The Value of Education
“As a child, I walked a long distance to school and learned under the soft glow of a kerosene lamp,” Singh recounted in April 2010.
“I owe everything to education. I wish for every Indian child, whether girls or boys, to experience the transformative power of education.”
Singh received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in economics from Panjab University before earning an honors degree at St. John’s College, University of Cambridge, in 1957.
He subsequently attained a doctorate at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield College in 1962.
By the time of the partition in 1947, Singh’s family had moved to Amritsar, which is now in India’s Punjab state and home to the Golden Temple, the holiest site in Sikhism. Sikhs represent nearly 2% of India’s population.
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After joining India’s finance ministry and later 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.
Faced with soaring oil prices that drained India’s foreign-exchange reserves, Singh began dismantling investment blockades.
He reduced import tariffs, allowed foreign firms to establish operations, and abolished the need for government approval for new factories.
“Think Big”
“We were amidst an unprecedented crisis, and it was essential to think broadly, not to contract,” Singh told PBS in a 2001 interview.
A decade earlier, he had echoed Victor Hugo while addressing lawmakers during a budget speech, stating, “No force on earth can halt an idea whose time has come.”
Singh’s time as prime minister began unexpectedly.
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Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of assassinated former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, led Congress to victory in 2004. She chose not to head the government, concerned that her foreign background would incite ongoing protests from Hindu nationalists, instead opting for Singh to take the role.
Remarkable Economic Growth
Under his leadership, India saw remarkable economic growth averaging 8.3% from 2004 to 2010, navigating the nation through a global recession while strengthening ties with the US. Sonia Gandhi remained president of Congress, overseeing a multiparty governing coalition, which led India Today magazine in May 2010 to describe it as “a peculiar separation of powers.”
“Manmohan Singh was no ordinary prime minister,” noted Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former deputy chairman of the planning commission and former economic affairs secretary, in his book “Backstage,” reflecting on Singh’s management during the 2008 global financial crisis.
“He had in-depth experience with the global economy and had managed the 1991 crisis. However, our situation was not a sudden crisis like in 1991; we were on a path to avoid one.”
Critiques and Challenges
Conversely, Singh faced stronger criticism. Lal Krishna Advani, a leading figure in the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, branded him “the weakest prime minister” in history.
The reserved Singh, seen as a technocrat among a politically influential elite, lost the only parliamentary election he contested in 1999.
After recovering from heart surgery in January 2009, Singh successfully led Congress to its most significant electoral triumph in two decades.
However, he disappointed investors with limited efforts to further his market-liberalizing policies from the 1990s, and allegations of corruption against a cabinet member ignited public protests in 2011, eventually resulting in Modi’s BJP assuming control of parliament.
“I don’t adhere to the idea of legacy — it is dependent on how others recount it and the timing involved,” Singh stated in a December 2011 interview with Bloomberg News.
“In 1991, when I launched economic liberalization, the opposition insisted that the finance minister ought to be impeached.”
Before the 2014 elections, Singh passionately defended his record, claiming he presided over the most rapid economic expansion, lifting 138 million individuals out of poverty.
“There may be ups and downs along the journey, but the path is one that I paved,” he declared in the 2011 interview. “I firmly believe it is the only way to alleviate the chronic poverty faced by millions.”
Singh is survived by his wife, Gursharan Kaur, and their three daughters: Upinder, Daman, and Amrit.
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