India has lost a towering figure in the Indian economic landscape, former Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh.

Singh played a pivotal role in orchestrating India’s roadmap as a leader in the global landscape through holding multiple key positions. In his illustrious career, he held positions including Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission; Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Advisor of the Prime Minister; and Chairman of the University Grants Commission.

Advertisement

He has been at the forefront steering the country through its darkest economic crisis to championing reforms. India was going through one of the gravest economic crises in the early 1990s.

The issues were ranging from balance-of-payments deficit, and external factors like the Gulf War. The crisis was upto an extent that India was left with foreign exchange reserves barely sufficient to cover three weeks’ worth of imports. In 1991, the rupee sharply devalued, and India was on the brink of collapse.

Amidst the political instability and a steady deterioration of the economy, followed by the assasination of Rajiv Gandhi, the general elections of 1991 took place.

Congress won the election and PV Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister. He decided to give Manmohan Singh the finance portfolio in the Union Government.

Between 1991 and 1996 as India’s Finance Minister his economic reforms are recognised worldwide.

In his tenure as Finance Minister, he introduced structural reforms that liberalised the Indian economy, opening it up to foreign investment and dismantling a web of protectionist policies.

Dr Singh also laid the foundation for a new taxation regime under which — for the income-tax on individuals, he raised the exemption limit even while reducing the number of tax slabs from four to three.

Manmohan Singh also undertook reforms liberalising the banking sector and the insurance industry by easing the flow of foreign capital as also the entry of the private sector.

Presenting the historic Budget of 1991, Manmohan Singh in his speech in Parliament said, “Macroeconomic stabilisation and fiscal adjustment alone cannot suffice. They must be supported by essential reforms in economic policy and economic management, as an integral part of the adjustment process, reforms which would help to eliminate waste and inefficiency and impart a new element of dynamism to growth processes in our economy.”

Economic reforms continued in his tenure as the Prime Minister as well. During his first tenure (2004-2009), India’s GDP grew at a healthy average pace of around 8 per cent, the second fastest among major economies.

He also took some bold decisions on reforms and brought more foreign investment into the country. He was also credited for shielding India from the 2008 global financial crisis.

Dr Singh also introduced a 100 days rural employment scheme that had a profound impact on rural incomes and poverty reduction.

He also brought in a law that guaranteed the right to free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 14, significantly reducing the school dropout rates.

The Aadhar project was also one of the unique identity projects to improve financial inclusion and delivery of welfare benefits to the poor.

However, his second term as the Prime Minister was in an alliance that was marked by allegations of corruption against some of his cabinet ministers.

In 2014, he told journalists in his last press conference as prime minister that he hoped history would judge him differently.