former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who wanted to eradicate poverty, dies

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, known for driving the economic liberalization of India, died at the age of 92, local media announced this Thursday, December 26. “India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders, Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji”reacted the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh to hold the post, died in hospital after suddenly losing consciousness. The man, described as very discreet, is recognized for having driven the economic liberalization of India and therefore its unprecedented growth. He thus lifted hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty, in which he lived as a child.

Born into a very modest family, Manmohan Singh managed to secure a place at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom before going to Oxford, where he obtained a doctorate with a thesis on the role of exports and free trade in the Indian economy. He then rose among the respected economists, and became governor of the Indian central bank and government advisor.

Also read
40 years ago, India experienced one of the worst industrial disasters in history in Bhopal

Unprecedented economic growth

He was appointed Minister of Finance in 1991. During his tenure, he was the architect of reforms that saved the Indian economy from a serious balance of payments crisis, notably favoring deregulation. He thus opened India to the world, whereas it had until now been withdrawn into itself. Quoting Victor Hugo during his first budget speech, he declared: “No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come”before adding: “India’s emergence as a major economic power in the world is precisely such an idea.”

In 2004, Manmohan Singh, who wanted to eradicate poverty, became prime minister. Taking advantage of a period of unprecedented economic growth, Singh’s government shared the fruits of this new wealth by introducing social welfare programs, such as an employment program for the rural poor. The last years of his mandate were marked by a slowdown in the Indian economy that he had helped to build, while global economic turmoil and government inaction hampered investment. He resigned in 2014, after political disputes. Manmohan Singh leaves behind his wife and three daughters.