Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Dr. Manmohan Singh was born on 26 September, 1932, in Gah, West Punjab (now in Pakistan) to Mr. Gurmukh Singh and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur
EDUCATION:
He completed his BA (Hons) in Economics from Punjab University, Chandigarh in 1952. He completed his MA (Economics) in the same Punjab University, Chandigarh. In 1954 he received the Wright’s Prize for distinguished performance at St John's College, Cambridge. In 1955 and 1957 he was a Wrenbury scholar at the University of Cambridge. In 1957 completed his DPhil (Oxford), DLitt (Honoris Causa) and PhD thesis on India's export competitiveness.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, Economic professor by profession, took many titles like Economic Advisor for Ministry of Foreign Trade, Chief Economic Advisor, Director Reserve Bank of India etc. Also he has served in International Monitory Fund (IMF).
As Finance Minister:
Dr. Manmohan Singh ’s interest & primary profession of Economics was a great asset. Dr Manmohan Singh is best known as the "liberator" of Indian economy, and in 1991 - 1996 in Narashima Rao's government, he was made the Finance Minister. When Dr. Manmohan Singh presented his budget in 1991, the country had an unsustainable fiscal deficit of close to 8.5 per cent of the gross domestic product, which is double of what it is currently. In a sentence we can say, India was about to be bankrupt.
Dr. Singh’s meticulous planning made India a great nation and he is rightly called as the Father of India Reforms.
One of the clean Handed politician in India, had lost in 1999, to VIJAY KUMAR MALHOTRA of BJP, while centesting from South Delhi.
Dr. Manmohan Singh once told an interviewer that he was "very surprised" when he was invited to become the finance minister by PV Narasimha Rao.
After the Congress was voted out of power, Dr.Singh kept a rather low profile, though he was the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Always a quiet, unassuming personality, out of the spotlight Singh faded into the background.
As a Union Finance Minister, his liberalisation policy took India on the path of globalisation, which is now continued by P Chidambaram, the Current Finance Minister of India.