New Delhi: As the curtains came down on the life of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a career politician, whose most iconic image was entering the Rajya Sabha in a wheelchair to cast his vote on a key issue in Parliament, News9 remembers some of the key offices held by the economist before he became India’s 13th Prime Minister.
Prior to taking over as Prime Minister in 2004, Singh held multiple posts in the administration, the most notable being secretary at the finance ministry, Planning Commission deputy chairman and RBI governor. Find out more here:
Economic Advisor, Commerce Ministry
Singh joined the commerce ministry as a financial advisor in 1971 at a time when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister of India. He had been teaching in Punjab University and the Delhi School of Economics prior to that.
Chief Economic Advisor, Finance Ministry
Singh was soon elevated to the post of chief economic advisor in the Finance Ministry in 1972 when the portfolio was held by Y B Chavan.
Secretary, Finance Ministry
Manmohan Singh took over as the secretary in the Department of Finance in 1976, a crucial year since the Emergency called by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was in its second year.
Deputy chairman, Planning Commission
In 1980-82, Singh joined the Planning Commission as the deputy chairman, which was headed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The Planning Commission was disbanded by the Modi government in 2014 and replaced by the government think tank Niti Aayog.
RBI governor
Manmohan Singh became governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 1982 under then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Interestingly, Mukherjee would also go on to serve as FM under Singh when he became Prime Minister. Singh remained RBI governor until 1985. During his tenure as RBI governor, Singh oversaw legal reforms in the banking sector, according to the RBI. During his tenure, the Urban Banks Department was added to the RBI. He also oversaw the addition of a new chapter to the RBI Act.
Finance Minister
Manmohan Singh had his tryst with destiny in 1990 when he was appointed the finance minister by the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Together with Rao, Singh worked to turn a crisis into an opportunity when the balance of payments issue led India to embrace liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation in fulfilment of the conditions for an IMF loan. India’s foreign exchange reserves declined to below $6 billion in 1991 posing a risk to India’s balance of payments. This was prompted by the Gulf War which hit oil prices and depleted remittances sent back home by Indian workers in the Gulf region. The rest as they say is post-1991 Indian economy with the country’s GDP going from strength to strength.
Comments are closed.