Manmohan Singh facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Manmohan Singh
Official portrait, 2004
13th Prime Minister of India
In office 22 May 2004 – 26 May 2014
President	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Pratibha Patil Pranab Mukherjee
Vice President	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Preceded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Succeeded by	Narendra Modi
Additional ministries In office 22 May 2004 – 26 May 2014 Ministry and Departments Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space Planning Commission Preceded by Lal Krishna Advani Atal Bihari Vajpayee Succeeded by Narendra Modi
10th Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha
In office 21 March 1998 – 21 May 2004
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Chairman	Krishan Kant Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Preceded by	Sikander Bakht
Succeeded by	Jaswant Singh
22nd Union Minister of Finance
In office 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Yashwant Sinha
Succeeded by	Jaswant Singh
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 19 August 2019 – 3 April 2024
Preceded by	Madan Lal Saini
Succeeded by	Sonia Gandhi
Constituency	Rajasthan
In office 1 October 1991 – 14 June 2019
Preceded by	Amritlal Basumatary
Succeeded by	Kamakhya Prasad Tasa
Constituency	Assam
15th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
In office 16 September 1982 – 14 January 1985
Preceded by	I. G. Patel
Succeeded by	Amitav Ghosh
Personal details
Born	(1932-09-26)26 September 1932 Gah, Punjab Province, British India (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Died	26 December 2024(2024-12-26) (aged 92) New Delhi, India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Gursharan Kaur ​ (m. 1958)​
Children	3, including Upinder and Daman
Alma mater	Panjab University (BA, MA) St John's College, Cambridge (BA) Nuffield College, Oxford (DPhil)
Profession	Economist academician bureaucrat politician
Awards	Full list
Signature

Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian politician, economist, academic, and bureaucrat, who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi. A member of the Indian National Congress, Singh was the first Sikh prime minister of India. He was also the first prime minister since Nehru to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.

Born in Gah in what is today Pakistan, Singh's family migrated to India during its partition in 1947. After obtaining his doctorate in economics from the University of Oxford, Singh worked for the United Nations during 1966–1969. He subsequently began his bureaucratic career when Lalit Narayan Mishra hired him as an advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. During the 1970s and 1980s, Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–1976), governor of the Reserve Bank (1982–1985) and head of the Planning Commission (1985–1987).

In 1991, as India faced a severe economic crisis, the newly elected prime minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as finance minister. Over the next few years, despite strong opposition, he carried out several structural reforms that liberalised India's economy. Although these measures proved successful in averting the crisis, and enhanced Singh's reputation globally as a leading reform-minded economist, the incumbent Congress Party fared poorly in the 1996 general election. Subsequently, Singh was leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Parliament of India) during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government of 1998–2004.

In 2004, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance came to power, its chairperson Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly relinquished the prime ministership to Singh. His first ministry executed several key legislations and projects, including the National Rural Health Mission, Unique Identification Authority, Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and Right to Information Act. In 2008, opposition to a historic civil nuclear agreement with the United States nearly caused Singh's government to fall after Left Front parties withdrew their support. In 2009, BRICS was established with India as one of the founding members. India's economy grew rapidly during his term.

The 2009 general election saw the UPA return with an increased mandate, with Singh retaining the office of prime minister. Over the next few years, Singh's second ministry government faced a number of corruption charges over the organisation of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2G spectrum allocation case and the allocation of coal blocks. After his term ended, he opted out from the race for the office of prime minister during the 2014 Indian general election. Singh was never a member of the Lok Sabha but served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, representing the state of Assam from 1991 to 2019 and Rajasthan from 2019 to 2024.

Early life and education

Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh Kohli and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab, British India, into a family of Punjabi Sikh dried fruit traders of Khatri background. His mother died when he was very young. He was raised by his paternal grandmother Jamna Devi, with whom he was very close.

Singh was initially educated at a local gurdwara, where he began studying Urdu and Punjabi. On 17 April 1937, he was enrolled in the local Government Primary School, where he continued his Urdu-medium education until the age of 10 (Class 4), after which he and his family moved to Peshawar. There, Singh was enrolled in the upper-primary Khalsa School. He sat for his matriculation examination in the summer of 1947. Even as prime minister years later, Singh wrote his apparently Hindi speeches in the Urdu script, although sometimes he would also use Gurmukhi, a script used to write Punjabi, his mother tongue. During the Partition of India, Singh and his family migrated to Haldwani, India. His grandfather Sant Singh was killed in the violence which erupted during the Partition, an event that traumatised Singh throughout his life. Consequently, he never returned to visit Gah despite pleas from local residents, as the village had greatly benefited from its connection to Singh following his election as prime minister of India.

In 1948, the family relocated to Amritsar, where Singh studied at Hindu College, Amritsar. He attended Panjab University, then in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, studying Economics and got his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954, respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He completed his Economics Tripos at University of Cambridge in 1957. He was a member of St John's College.

In a 2005 interview with the British journalist Mark Tully, Singh said about his Cambridge days:

I first became conscious of the creative role of politics in shaping human affairs, and I owe that mostly to my teachers Joan Robinson and Nicholas Kaldor. Joan Robinson was a brilliant teacher, but she also sought to awaken the inner conscience of her students in a manner that very few others were able to achieve. She questioned me a great deal and made me think the unthinkable. She propounded the left wing interpretation of Keynes, maintaining that the state has to play more of a role if you really want to combine development with social equity. Kaldor influenced me even more; I found him pragmatic, scintillating, stimulating. Joan Robinson was a great admirer of what was going on in China, but Kaldor used the Keynesian analysis to demonstrate that capitalism could be made to work.

After Cambridge, Singh returned to India and served as a teacher at Panjab University. In 1960, he went to the University of Oxford for his DPhil, where he was a member of Nuffield College. His 1962 doctoral thesis under the supervision of Ian Little was titled "India's export performance, 1951–1960, export prospects and policy implications", and was later the basis for his book "India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth".

Early career

After completing his D.Phil., Singh returned to India. He was a senior lecturer of economics at Panjab University from 1957 to 1959. During 1959 and 1963, he served as a reader in economics at Panjab University, and from 1963 to 1965, he was an economics professor there. Then he went to work for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 1966 to 1969. Later, he was appointed as an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Trade by Lalit Narayan Mishra, in recognition of Singh's talent as an economist.

From 1969 to 1971, Singh was a professor of international trade at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.

In 1972, Singh was chief economic adviser in the Ministry of Finance, and in 1976 he was secretary in the Finance Ministry. In 1980–1982 he was at the Planning Commission, and in 1982, he was appointed governor of the Reserve Bank of India under then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and held the post until 1985. He went on to become the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission (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 November 1990.

Singh returned to India from Geneva in November 1990 and held the post as the advisor to Prime Minister of India on economic affairs during the tenure of Chandra Shekar. In March 1991, he became chairman of the University Grants Commission.

Political career

In June 1991, India's prime minister at the time, P. V. Narasimha Rao, chose Singh to be his finance minister. Singh told Mark Tully, a British journalist, in 2005:

On the day (Rao) was formulating his cabinet, he sent his Principal Secretary to me saying, "The PM would like you to become the Minister of Finance". I didn't take it seriously. He eventually tracked me down the next morning, rather angry, and demanded that I get dressed up and come to Rashtrapati Bhavan for the swearing in. So that's how I started in politics[.]

Minister of Finance (1991–1996)

In 1991, 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 per cent of India's GDP. India's foreign reserves barely amounted to US$1 billion, enough to pay for 2 weeks of imports, in comparison to US$600 billion in 2009.

Singh explained to the PM and the party that India is facing an unprecedented crisis. However the rank and file of the party resisted deregulation. So P. Chidambaram and Singh explained to the party that the economy would collapse if it was not deregulated. To the dismay of the party, Rao allowed Singh to deregulate the Indian economy.

Subsequently, Singh, who had thus far been one of the most influential architects of India's socialist economy, eliminated the permit raj, reduced state control of the economy, and reduced import taxes. 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 License 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 privatisation of public sector companies. However, in spite of these reforms, Rao's government was voted out in 1996 due to the government's non-performance in other areas. In praise of Singh's work that pushed India towards a market economy, long-time Cabinet minister P. Chidambaram has compared Singh's role in India's reforms to Deng Xiaoping's in China.

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 US$1.8 billion 1992 securities scandal. Prime Minister Rao refused Singh's resignation, instead promising to punish the individuals directly accused in the report.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha (1998–2004)

Singh was first elected to the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, in 1991 by the legislature of the state of Assam, and was re-elected in 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2013. 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 in his electoral debut.

Prime Minister (2004–2014)

Appointment

11th President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam authorising the Prime Minister designate Manmohan Singh to form the next Government in New Delhi on 19 May 2004

After the 2004 general elections, the Indian National Congress ended the incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA) tenure by becoming the political party with the single largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha. It formed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with allies and staked the claim to form government. In a surprise move, Chairperson Sonia Gandhi declared Manmohan Singh, a technocrat, as the UPA candidate for the prime ministership. Despite the fact that Singh had never won a direct popular election, he, according to the BBC, "enjoyed massive popular support, not least because he was seen by many as a clean politician untouched by the taint of corruption that has run through many Indian administrations." He took the oath as the Prime Minister of India on 22 May 2004.

Economic policy

In 1991, Singh, as Finance Minister, abolished the Licence Raj, source of slow economic growth and corruption in the Indian economy for decades. He liberalised the Indian economy, allowing it to speed up development dramatically. During his term as prime minister, Singh continued to encourage growth in the Indian market, enjoying widespread success in these matters. Singh, along with his finance minister, P. Chidambaram, presided over a period where the Indian economy grew with an 8–9% economic growth rate. In 2007, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and became the second fastest growing major economy in the world. Singh's ministry enacted a National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2005.

Singh's government continued the Golden Quadrilateral highway network and the highway modernisation program that was initiated by Vajpayee's government. Singh also worked on reforming the banking and financial sectors, as well as public sector companies. The Finance ministry worked towards relieving farmers of their debt and worked towards pro-industry policies. In 2005, Singh's government introduced the value added tax, replacing sales tax. In 2007 and early 2008, the global problem of inflation impacted India.

Healthcare and education

In 2005, Prime Minister Singh and his government's health ministry started the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM), which mobilised half a million community health workers. This rural health initiative was praised by the American economist Jeffrey Sachs. In 2006, his Government implemented the proposal to reserve 27% of seats in All India Institutes of Medical Studies (AIIMS), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other central institutions of higher education for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) which led to 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests.

On 2 July 2009, Singh ministry introduced the Right to Education Act (RTE). Eight IITs were opened in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The Singh government also continued the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program. The program includes the introduction and improvement of mid-day meals and the opening of schools all over India, especially in rural areas, to fight illiteracy.

Home affairs

Singh's government strengthened anti-terror laws with amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was also created soon after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, as need for a central agency to combat terrorism was realised. Also, the Unique Identification Authority of India was established in February 2009, an agency responsible for implementing the envisioned Multipurpose National Identity Card with the objective of increasing national security and facilitating e-governance.

Singh with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in August 2008

Singh's administration initiated a massive reconstruction effort in Kashmir to stabilise the region but after some period of success, insurgent infiltration and terrorism in Kashmir has increased since 2009. The Singh administration was, however, successful in reducing terrorism in Northeast India.

In 2005, he controversially apologized on behalf of the Indian National Congress for the bloodshed during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in a speech to Parliament.

Parliamentary activities

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Information Act were passed by the Parliament in 2005 during his tenure. While the effectiveness of the NREGA has been successful at various degrees, in various regions, the RTI act has proved crucial in India's fight against corruption. New cash benefits were also introduced for widows, pregnant women, and landless persons.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 was passed on 29 August 2013 in the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) and on 4 September 2013 in Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian parliament). The bill received the assent of the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 27 September 2013. The Act came into force from 1 January 2014.

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act was enacted on 4 August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010.

In 2008, his government survived a vote of confidence following the nuclear deal. Various defections from the UPA coalition marred his second term, including the Trinamool Congress in 2012 and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 2013.

Foreign policy

Singh with then-American presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush at the White House

Manmohan Singh continued the pragmatic foreign policy that was started by P.V. Narasimha Rao and continued by Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Singh continued the peace process with Pakistan initiated by his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Exchange of high-level visits by top leaders from both countries have highlighted his tenure. Efforts have been made during Singh's tenure to end the border dispute with People's Republic of China. In November 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India which was followed by Singh's visit to Beijing in January 2008. A major development in Sino-Indian relations was the reopening of the Nathula Pass in 2006 after being closed for more than four decades. Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Li Keqiang paid a state visit to India (Delhi–Mumbai) from 19 to 21 May 2013. Singh paid an official visit to China from 22 to 24 October 2013. Three agreements were signed establishing sister-city partnership between Delhi–Beijing, Kolkata–Kunming and Bangalore–Chengdu. As of 2010, the People's Republic of China was the second biggest trade partner of India.

Relations with Afghanistan have improved considerably, with India now becoming the largest regional donor to Afghanistan. During Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to New Delhi in August 2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of more schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defence. Under the leadership of Singh, India emerged as one of the single largest aid donors to Afghanistan.

Singh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the sideline of the 15th NAM Summit, at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, July 2009

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Dmitry Medvedev, Hu Jintao, Dilma Rousseff and Jacob Zuma at the 2011 BRICS summit in Sanya, China

Singh's government worked towards stronger ties with the United States. He visited the United States in July 2005 initiating negotiations over the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement. This was followed by George W. Bush's successful visit to India in March 2006, during which the declaration over the nuclear agreement was made, giving India access to American nuclear fuel and technology while India will have to allow IAEA inspection of its civil nuclear reactors. After more than two years for more negotiations, followed by approval from the IAEA, Nuclear Suppliers Group and the US Congress, India and the US signed the agreement on 10 October 2008 with Pranab Mukherjee representing India. Singh had the first official state visit to the White House during the administration of US President Barack Obama. The visit took place in November 2009, and several discussions took place, including on trade and nuclear power.

Relations have improved with Japan and European Union countries, like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Relations with Iran have continued and negotiations over the Iran–Pakistan–India gas pipeline have taken place. New Delhi hosted an India–Africa Summit in April 2006 which was attended by the leaders of 15 African states. Relations have improved with other developing countries, particularly Brazil and South Africa. Singh carried forward the momentum which was established after the "Brasilia Declaration" in 2003 and the IBSA Dialogue Forum was formed.

Singh's government has also been especially keen on expanding ties with Israel. Since 2003, the two countries have made significant investments in each other and Israel now rivals Russia to become India's largest defence partner. Though there have been a few diplomatic glitches between India and Russia, especially over the delay and price hike of several Russian weapons to be delivered to India, relations between the two remained strong with India and Russia signing various agreements to increase defence, nuclear energy and space co-operation.

During the Libyan Civil War, India abstained from voting on the UN Security Council's Resolutions 1970 and 1973 that authorised NATO action in Libya. In the Lok Sabha, resolution was unanimously adopted to condemn NATO's military intervention in Libya.

In 2009, Singh was among the leaders who laid the foundation of the intergovernmental organisation BRICS. The establishment of the group is often described as a display of emergent economic power.

Singh criticised the West for the use of force to enforce regime change in Syria and Libya during his speech at the UN in September 2011. Although India was among the last few countries to recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council, it agreed to work with the Council to help rebuild Libya. India resent an ambassador to Tripoli in July 2012 having shut its mission in Tripoli in 2011.

2009 general election

Singh with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in May 2013

India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009. Strong showing in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh helped the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) form the new government under the incumbent Singh, who became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to win re-election after completing a full five-year term. The Congress and its allies were able to put together a comfortable majority with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. These included those of the UPA and the external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other minor parties.

On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the prime minister during a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Post-premiership (2014–2024)

Singh's premiership officially ended at noon on 17 May 2014. He did not contest the 2014 general election for the 16th Lok Sabha as the prime ministerial candidate. He resigned his post as prime minister after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance won the election. He served as the acting prime minister till 26 May 2014, when Narendra Modi was sworn in as the new prime minister. Singh, along with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Presidents A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil, and Vice-President Hamid Ansari attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony.

In 2016, it was announced that Singh was to take up a position at Panjab University as the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair, which he eventually did not. He was elected as the Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan in 2019, succeeding BJP MP Madan Lal Saini. Singh retired from the Rajya Sabha in April 2024 and was succeeded by Sonia Gandhi.

Personal life

Singh married Gursharan Kaur in 1958. They had three daughters: Upinder Singh, Daman Singh and Amrit Singh. Upinder Singh is a professor of history at Ashoka University. 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 American Civil Liberties Union.

Singh's son-in-law, Ashok Pattnaik, a 1983 batch Indian Police Service officer, was appointed CEO of National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) in 2016.

Singh was attacked during the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots and provided financial assistance to the Citizens' Relief Committee.

Singh was a vegetarian.

Until his death, Singh resided at 3 Motilal Nehru Marg in New Delhi.

Illness and death

Singh underwent multiple cardiac bypass surgeries, the last of which took place in January 2009. In May 2020, Singh was hospitalised at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) due to a negative reaction from his medication. In April 2021, Singh was hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19. In October 2021, Singh was hospitalised again at the AIIMS after experiencing weakness and fever.

On 26 December 2024, Singh collapsed at his home in New Delhi and was admitted to the emergency department of AIIMS Delhi. Singh died a few hours after his hospitalisation at the age of 92. The government subsequently announced a period of national mourning until 1 January 2025 and said that it would accord Singh a state funeral.

Awards and honours

Electoral history

See also

In Spanish: Manmohan Singh para niños

• Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship at the University of Cambridge
• Economic reforms under Manmohan Singh
• First Manmohan Singh ministry
• United Progressive Alliance