Dr Manmohan Singh’s journey from a modest and difficult childhood to becoming one of India’s most prominent economists, Finance Minister and two-time Prime Minister remains an important chapter in the country’s modern history.
Born on September 26, 1932, in Gah village in undivided Punjab, Dr Singh lost his mother when he was only about five months old. He was brought up by his maternal grandmother in Gah, which is now in Pakistan. His father, Gurmukh Singh, worked for a firm in Peshawar that imported dry fruits from Afghanistan and supplied them to different parts of India.
The Partition of India profoundly affected the Singh family. Shortly before Partition, Dr Singh’s maternal grandfather was killed during communal violence in Gah. Other members of the family, however, managed to reach India safely. Years later, after Dr Singh became Prime Minister, he was invited to visit Gah, but he declined because of the painful memories associated with the village.
An Exceptional Academic Journey
Dr Singh completed his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Panjab University, securing the top position in his class. He subsequently received a scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge and joined St John’s College.
His academic journey placed him among a remarkable group of South Asian economics students. According to the account cited in David Engerman’s The Apostles of Development, the group included Amartya Sen, Jagdish Bhagwati and Manmohan Singh from India; Mahbub ul Haq from Pakistan; Lal Jayawardena from Sri Lanka; and Rehman Sobhan from what was then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
Five of the six students graduated with first-class results, while Sobhan narrowly missed the distinction. The three Indian students won the Adam Smith Prize. All six later made significant contributions to public life in their respective countries.
Among the six, Dr Singh came from the most modest background, while the others largely came from affluent landowning or professional families.
Entry into Government Service
Dr Singh entered government service in 1971 as Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Commerce. His early experience in government was not always comfortable. The then minister, L.N. Mishra, wanted him to prepare a note that went against his own views.
Dr Singh was prepared to accept a decision that rejected his advice, but he was unwilling to sign documents that conflicted with his conscience and convictions. He therefore considered resigning and returning to academia.
After the Bangladesh war ended, P.N. Haksar, then principal secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, asked Dr Singh to prepare a note on what should be done after the victory. Although the original document is no longer available, the account suggests that Dr Singh argued at the time for opening up trade and freeing the private sector from excessive government restrictions.
Haksar was a left-leaning intellectual and the advice was not adopted. Nevertheless, presenting such views soon after entering government reflected Dr Singh’s willingness to express his economic thinking even when it differed from the prevailing approach.
Dr Singh later held several important positions, including Chief Economic Adviser, Finance Ministry Secretary, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The official Prime Minister’s Office biography records his appointment as Economic Adviser in 1971 and his subsequent service in several senior government positions.
Speaking Frankly to Those in Power
One of the notable features of Dr Singh’s administrative career was his willingness to express disagreement on matters he considered important.
During his tenure as RBI Governor, Bank of Credit and Commerce International sought a full banking licence. Dr Singh understood that once the Finance Ministry allowed the bank to open branches, it would become difficult for the RBI to subsequently refuse a licence.
He strongly raised the issue with the Finance Minister as well as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He argued that the decision could weaken the credibility of the RBI as an independent banking regulator. He also made clear that if the proposal was implemented, he would have little choice but to resign.
As Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr Singh also differed with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi over development priorities. Rajiv Gandhi wanted large-scale investment in infrastructure as part of his effort to modernise India and take the country into the 21st century.
Dr Singh agreed on the importance of infrastructure but stressed that agriculture and rural development also required investment. His well-known argument was that the country could not take 20 per cent of its population into the 21st century while leaving 80 per cent behind in the 19th century.
The 1991 Economic Crisis
The most defining phase of Dr Singh’s economic career came in 1991, when India was facing a severe balance-of-payments crisis and was close to defaulting on its foreign debt obligations. The government preceding P.V. Narasimha Rao’s administration had even pledged part of the country’s gold reserves to raise foreign exchange.
Rao was advised to appoint a Finance Minister who understood the complexities of running an economy and also had credibility in international financial markets. Dr Manmohan Singh was chosen for the position.
His immediate priority in 1991 was to stabilise the economy. During his tenure as Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996, he played a central role in introducing a broad programme of economic reforms. The official Prime Minister’s Office describes this period as a turning point in India’s economic history and recognises his role in advancing comprehensive economic reforms.
The reforms included dismantling important elements of the licence regime and increasing the role of markets, competition and efficiency in the economy. Dr Singh was not an advocate of an unrestricted market model, but he believed that markets had an important role to play and that excessive restrictions had limited competition and efficiency.
The reforms faced considerable opposition. Dr Singh reportedly warned Prime Minister Rao that the proposed measures could create political difficulties. Rao responded that Singh should focus on doing what was necessary while he handled the political consequences.
The 1992 Budget and Parliament
The reforms also attracted sharp criticism in Parliament. At the end of his 1992 Budget speech, Dr Singh referred to the intense criticism surrounding his measures and made a remark about going to watch a play while allowing his critics to do their best.
He subsequently quoted the famous lines, “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai,” recalling the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh and his comrades. The reference drew applause across the House.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also reportedly approached Dr Singh after the speech and jokingly asked whether he considered them the “killers”.
The 1999 Lok Sabha Election
In 1999, the Congress party fielded Dr Singh as its candidate from the South Delhi constituency. He contested against BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
The account recalls a door-to-door campaign conducted by Dr Singh’s friends, including the late Ishar, the author’s wife. During the campaign, a local laundry operator said that he knew and respected Dr Singh but asked whether he could help resolve a family land dispute in his village in Uttar Pradesh.
The account suggests that Dr Singh would most likely have responded that intervening in such a personal dispute would not have been appropriate for him.
Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister
Dr Singh became India’s Prime Minister on May 22, 2004, following the general election. He took oath for a second term on May 22, 2009, and remained Prime Minister until May 2014. The official government record identifies him as India’s 14th Prime Minister and notes his two terms from 2004 to 2014.
As Prime Minister, Dr Singh sought to combine high economic growth with an emphasis on inclusive development, particularly by ensuring that the benefits of growth reached rural areas and wider sections of society.
According to the account, real economic growth during the UPA-II period averaged 6.7 per cent. Taken together, the UPA-I and UPA-II periods recorded an average growth rate of 7.5 per cent over the decade.
India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement
One of the major achievements of the UPA government was the India-US civil nuclear agreement of 2008.
The proposal faced opposition from several quarters. The BJP opposed it, while the Left parties were sceptical because of their longstanding concerns about closer ties with the United States. The Department of Atomic Energy was concerned about possible pressure on India to purchase US reactors.
There were also reservations within sections of the Congress party, partly because of traditional scepticism towards the US and partly because of concerns that withdrawal of Left support could create a political crisis for the government.
Dr Singh argued that the agreement was in India’s national interest and made it clear that he would resign if he was prevented from taking it forward. Sonia Gandhi subsequently allowed him to proceed and ensured political support for the agreement.
Corruption Allegations and the 2G Issue
The final years of the UPA government were dominated by corruption allegations, which overshadowed several of its other achievements.
The 2G spectrum controversy became one of the most prominent issues. The account argues that the Comptroller and Auditor General’s role was to examine the implementation of the policy rather than determine whether the underlying policy itself was appropriate.
The CAG report included estimates of what it described as a presumptive or notional loss to the government based on different valuation approaches. The largest figure widely reported was Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
The report did not state that the entire amount had been stolen. Rather, the figure represented an estimated or presumptive financial loss. However, extensive media coverage turned the figure into a central symbol of the corruption allegations surrounding the UPA government.
Areas Where More Could Have Been Done
The account also identifies areas where, in retrospect, further reforms could have been pursued.
One was the pace of opening India’s economy to international trade. The UPA government had moved towards greater regional economic engagement under its “Look East” policy and had initiated discussions around the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but the agreement was not concluded.
The government could also have moved further on foreign direct investment and privatisation. The account notes that successive governments after 1991 had generally avoided complete privatisation of loss-making public sector enterprises.
At one of his final press conferences as Prime Minister, Dr Singh said that history would judge him more kindly than the contemporary press. His contribution to India’s economic transformation, particularly his role in the reforms that dismantled important elements of the licence regime, continues to form a major part of his public legacy.
Dr Manmohan Singh’s official government biography records his academic achievements, his role as Finance Minister during the 1991–96 reform period and his two terms as Prime Minister. It also notes the numerous honours he received during his lifetime, including the Padma Vibhushan and the Adam Smith Prize.