RIP Manmohan Singh: Economist, Bureaucrat, RBI Governor, Finance Minister and Prime Minister

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday night at the AIIMS hospital in Delhi, where he was rushed hours earlier due to age-related health complications. In his passing, India has lost a towering leader who made a mark on the country unlike anyone else before or after him.

Manmohan Singh was born in modern-day Pakistan

Born to Sikh parents on 26 September 1932, in Gah, in modern-day Pakistan's Punjab province, Dr Singh and his family moved to Haldwani after the Partition of India and later relocated to Amritsar.

CREDIT: REUTERS

Manmohan Singh's educational qualification

An alumnus of Panjab University and the University of Cambridge, where he attended St John's College, Dr Singh found his calling in Economics.

Dr Singh, who also held a DPhil from the University of Oxford, started his career teaching Economics at Panjab University in 1957.

Dr Singh also served as a professor of international trade at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, before being appointed as the Chief Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance in 1972.

Posts held by Manmohan Singh

As a bureaucrat, Dr Singh held various key posts, including that of secretary in the Finance Ministry, a member of the Planning Commission, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, and Chairman of the University Grants Commission.

Manmohan Singh's role as Finance Minister

Dr Singh's political career started in 1991 when he was a surprise pick by then-Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, who wanted him to become the new Finance Minister.

CREDIT: AP

Dr Singh's tenure as Finance Minister of India was highly consequential, as his policies acted as the guidelines for the country that was opening up to the world.

Dr Singh also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 1998 to 2004, when BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

Two-term Prime Minister of India

In 2004, Dr Singh sprung another surprise when he was named the Prime Minister of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). While most people were anticipating Congress President Sonia Gandhi to take up the post, she surprised everyone by instead nominating Dr Singh for the job.

CREDIT: REUTERS

Despite his image as a weak Prime Minister, Dr Singh led the UPA government for two successive terms from 2004 to 2014. He retired from active politics and the Rajya Sabha in April 2024.

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