A thinking man’s intellectual, Dr Manmohan Singh was one of the finest economists his era had seen; a gleaming example of a doer who silently did his job.
As India mourns the loss of Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed away on recently in AIIMS, New Delhi, there is a feeling of disbelief. If we could borrow a phrase from the former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel, Dr Singh was “a thinking man’s intellectual”. He not only lived as one of the finest economists, he was also known for his integrity and a gleaming example of a doer who silently did his job.
A harbinger of modern India, especially in a market economy, Dr Singh not just called his appointment as a PM accidental but also called himself an accidental Finance Minister. Dr Singh’s daughter Daman Singh in her book ‘Strictly Personal: Manmohan & Gursharan’ writes how a surprise call from then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao’s office got him the job.
That changed the course for India and made his role pivotal with regards to where India stands today. Dr Singh’s contributions remain colossal not just as the finance minister but also as the 13th Prime Minister of India.
1991: A watershed moment
“No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come,” is what Singh had said while concluding his landmark 1991 budget speech. “I suggest to this august House that the emergence of India as a major economic power in the world happens to be one such idea. Let the whole world hear it loud and clear. India is now wide awake. We shall prevail. We shall overcome,” he said, and these words echo every time we remember his role in shaping the India of today.
In June 1991, the then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao had picked Manmohan Singh as India’s Finance Minister.
He liberalised the economy and ended the license raj with one stroke of his pen. While this is something which many of us have grown listening to while not actually understanding the gravity of the reforms that happened under his watch. And sadly, that is the reason why many of us do not value what he did.
The Indian economy was in shambles and we were on the brink of bankruptcy. In the 1990s, Indian foreign exchange reserves had dropped to Rs 2,500 crore which was just good enough to cover 2 weeks of imports. Global banks were refusing to offer loans to India and inflation was in double-digits. The outflows were happening, making the situation get worse by the day. At one point, India had to pledge its gold to avail nearly USD 400 million as a loan.
The Narasimha Rao Government had to act fast and failure was not an option. Dr Singh undertook a series of measures through his July 24, 1991 budget. Industrial licensing was done away with in all but 18 sectors which ended the bureaucratic red tape and promoted ease of doing business.
The government also allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 34 industries, opening the economy to international players who brought not just the investments but also the technology to the country.
Among other things, the Indian rupee was devalued to increase export competitiveness. The government also ended state monopolies in several sectors while bringing down its stake in numerous public sector enterprises.
To further unleash the animal spirit, the government also removed controls on imports and slashed import tariffs.
For the financial sector restructuring, a committee was created under then RBI Governor M. Narasimham. These were not the only institutional reforms that had happened in his tenure.
Dr Singh as PM
Dr Singh is the fourth longest serving PM and behind Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and the incumbent Narendra Modi. His contributions remain exemplary on this front too. The PM stood against its own government to end India’s nuclear apartheid by forging a partnership with the US. His 10 years also saw India’s bilateral relationship with the US go up by several notches because of the deep respect and admiration he commanded from his then contemporaries George Bush Jr and Barack Obama.
He navigated India through the global financial crisis in 2008 and during his 10-year tenure, country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an average of 7.2 per cent.
His government also passed several citizen centric legislations like the Right to Education and the National Food Security Act. The Right to Information (RTI) act was another Act passed during his tenure which empowered the citizens to demand government accountability.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was a social welfare scheme which gave the people ‘right to work’ and was passed in UPA-1. This scheme was a topic of ridicule for his detractors but we know how useful it proved to be during the times of Covid.
He also remained an epitome of probity in public life.
In his last press conference on January 3, 2014 as the prime minister, Dr Singh said, “I honestly believe history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or for that matter, the opposition parties in Parliament.” He had then said, “I cannot divulge all the things that take place in the cabinet system of government. I think taking into account the circumstances and the compulsions of a coalition polity, I have done as best as I could do under the circumstances.”
A lot of things about him and his government will come out as the time passes — some great, others good and some not so pleasant. But, it can be said with reasonable certainty that his accomplishments will far outweigh the not-so-pleasant things.
