Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Passes Away

Former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, passed away late tonight at AIIMS, Delhi, following prolonged illness. He was 92 years old.

Manmohan Singh, a senior Congress leader, served as India’s 13th Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, leading the UPA-1 and UPA-2 governments. Renowned as one of India’s greatest economists, he played a pivotal role in shaping the country’s economic policies and is credited with several landmark economic reforms. Between 1982 and 1985, he served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Manmohan Singh made history as the first non-Hindu to hold the Prime Minister's office in India. His parliamentary career spanned 33 years, during which he also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 1998 to 2004. As the Finance Minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao’s government (1991-1996), Singh introduced transformative economic reforms, known as LPG (Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization), setting the stage for India’s rapid economic growth. He was recognized with the Euromoney Award for Best Finance Minister in 1993 and 1994 and received the World Statesman Award in 2010.

In his extensive career, Manmohan Singh also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, UGC Chairman, and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1987. Forbes magazine included him in its list of the world’s most powerful people, and in 2017, he received the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development.

Born on September 26, 1932, in pre-Partition Pakistan, Singh’s family migrated to India during the Partition. He is survived by his wife, Gursharan Kaur, and three daughters, Upinder Singh, Daman Singh, and Amrit Singh.