Dr Manmohan Singh

This article is about the present Prime Minister of India: Dr Manmohan Singh.

A story from humble beginnings

The country's present Prime Minister - Dr Manmohan Singh, a man of high moral standing and accomplishment.

Dr Singh was born on September 26, 1932, to his parents Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur at Gah, a small hamlet in Pakistan. At the dawn of Independent India in 1947, Manmohan Singh, aged 13, displaced by the partition, came to live with his parents in Amritsar, India.

Education

Dr Singh has been noted for his academic accomplishments. He is in fact the most qualified Prime Minister India has ever received since independence. Here are some highlights of his academic career:

• Stood first in BA (Hons), Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh,
  
• 1952 stood first in MA (Economics), Panjab University, Chandigarh,
  
• 1954 Wright's Prize for distinguished performance at St John's College, Cambridge, 1955 and 1957
• Wrenbury scholar, University of Cambridge, 1957
• DPhil (Oxford), DLitt (Honoris Causa)
• PhD thesis on India's export competitiveness

Occupation

Dr Singh has served the nation in various capacities. From a humble beginning with his grit and patience has achieved a lot. He has a wide array of experience. Here is a small career map, of our Prime Minister.

He started off with a academic career i.e. teaching as a profession:

He served in the following capacities as teacher (Senior lecturer, Economics, 1957-59; Reader, Economics, 1959-63; Professor, Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1963-65; Professor, International Trade, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1969-71; Honorary professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1976 and off late even Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 1996) and Civil Servant

Positions

Dr Singh has held a lot of distinguished posts in his life here is a lift of these:

• 1971-72: Economic advisor, ministry of foreign trade
• 1972-76: Chief economic advisor, ministry of finance
• 1976-80: Director, Reserve Bank of India; Director, Industrial Development Bank of India; Alternate governor for India, Board of governors, Asian Development Bank; Alternate governor for India, Board of governors, IBRD
• November 1976 - April 1980: Secretary, ministry of finance (department of economic affairs); Member, finance, Atomic Energy Commission; Member, finance, Space Commission
• April 1980 - September 15, 1982 : Member-secretary, Planning Commission
• 1980-83: Chairman, India Committee of the Indo-Japan joint study committee
• September 16, 1982 - January 14, 1985: Governor, Reserve Bank of India
• 1982-85: Alternate Governor for India, Board of governors, International Monetary Fund
• 1983-84: Member, economic advisory council to the Prime Minister
• 1985: President, Indian Economic Association
• January 15, 1985 - July 31, 1987: Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission
• August 1, 1987 - November 10, 1990: Secretary-general and commissioner, south commission, Geneva
• December 10, 1990 - March 14, 1991: Advisor to the Prime Minister on economic affairs
• March 15, 1991 - June 20, 1991: Chairman, UGC
• June 21, 1991 - May 15, 1996: Union finance minister
• October 1991: Elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam on Congress ticket June 1995: Re-elected to Rajya Sabha
• 1996 onwards: Member, Consultative Committee for the ministry of finance
• August 1, 1996 - December 4, 1997: Chairman, Parliamentary standing committee on commerce
• March 21, 1998 onwards: Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha
• June 5, 1998 onwards: Member, committee on finance August 13, 1998 onwards: Member, committee on rules Aug 1998-2001: Member, committee of privileges 2000 onwards: Member, executive committee, Indian parliamentary group June 2001: Re-elected to Rajya Sabha
• Aug 2001 onwards: Member, general purposes committee

Other accomplishments

• Adam Smith Prize, University of Cambridge, 1956
  
• Padma Vibhushan, 1987
• Euromoney Award, Finance Minister of the Year, 1993;
• Asiamoney Award, Finance Minister of the Year for Asia, 1993 and 1994

International assignments

• 1966: Economic Affairs Officer
• 1966-69: Chief, financing for trade section, UNCTAD
  
• 1972-74: Deputy for India in IMF Committee of Twenty on International Monetary Reform
  
• 1977-79: Indian delegation to Aid-India Consortium Meetings
• 1980-82: Indo-Soviet joint planning group meeting
• 1982: Indo-Soviet monitoring group meeting
• 1993: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Cyprus
• 1993: Human Rights World Conference, Vienna

Economic reforms and ascent to power

One of the more non-political faces of Indian politics, Dr Manmohan Singh is best known as the "liberator" of Indian economy. As the Union Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government (1991-96), he liberalized the economy to put India on the path of globalization.

Singh served as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India in the late 1980s, and was elevated to finance minister in 1991 by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.

Dr. Singh is widely regarded as the architect of India's original economic reform programme which was enacted in 1991 under Rao's administration. The economic liberalization package pushed by Singh and Rao opened the nation to foreign direct investment and reduced the red tape that had previously impeded business growth.

Opposition and 2004 election

Dr. Singh stayed with the Congress Party despite continuous marginalization and defeats in the elections of 1996, 1998 and 1999. He did not join the rebels in a major split which occurred in 1999, when three Congress leaders objected to Sonia Gandhi's rise as Congress President and Leader of the Opposition. But Singh continued to stay on as a leader within the party, most notably helping to revamp the party's platform and organization.

Singh secured the nomination for prime minister on May 19, 2004 when President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam officially asked him to form a government.

Tenure as Prime Minister

Singh's image is of a formidable intellectual, a political leader of integrity, someone who is compassionate and attentive to common people, and as a recognized technocrat. Singh's administration has focused on reducing the fiscal deficit, providing debt-relief to poor farmers, extending social programs and advancing the pro-industry economic and tax policies that have launched the country on a major economic expansion course since 2002. Singh has been the image of the Congress campaign to defuse religious tensions and conflicts and bolster political support from minorities like Muslims and Christians.

The Indo-US Nuclear Deal

Dr. Singh is known as a bold leader. He made it clear in his address to Parliament in 2006 regarding his Nuclear Deal with US. He said he believed in taking India to new heights. Energy scarcity is hampering progress of the country. The speech gave signal of a new Manmohan Singh, who compelled his fellow parliamentarians to take a step forward for India's sake. He reminded them of the fears and anxieties that existed when he announced reforms in the early 1990s. Finally, the whole parliament, including the leftists, gave him support on the nuclear issue