“Deeply Emotional Moment For Me”: P Chidambaram Mourns Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh’s story has not been totally instructed, stated senior Congress chief P Chidambaram as he mourned the lack of the previous Prime Minister, including that the “interval from 1991 until 2014 shall be a golden chapter” within the historical past of India.

“It’s a deeply emotional second for me to discuss Dr Manmohan Singh,” stated Mr Chidambaram, who was a Minister within the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance or the UPA.

Manmohan Singh, ‘The Unintentional Prime Minister’, died on Thursday because of age-related medical situations, stated the All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS. He was 92. 

“The life and work of Dr Manmohan Singh and the interval from 1991 until 2014 shall be a golden chapter within the historical past of India. I labored intently with him for a few years. I’ve not met an individual extra humble and self-effacing than Dr Singh. He wore his scholarship calmly and by no means claimed credit score for any of his historic achievements.” stated Mr Chidambaram, now a Rajya Sabha member.

Mr Singh, who was finance minister below the then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao (1991-1996), was the architect and the brainchild of financial reforms in 1991 that pulled India from the brink of chapter and ushered in an period of financial liberalisation that’s broadly believed to have modified the course of India’s financial trajectory.

“The story of India turned after Dr Singh turned Finance Minister. And the current center class of India was nearly the creation of his insurance policies as Finance Minister and Prime Minister,” stated Mr Chidambaram, including whereas the previous Prime Minister’s insurance policies had been liberal and progressive, he “by no means forgot the poor”. 

Citing examples of the previous Prime Minister’s “sterling dedication to the poor”, P Chidambaram singled out the Mahatma Gandhi Nationwide Rural Employment Assure Act or MNREGA, a rural jobs assure scheme, and the restructuring of the Public Distribution System or PDS. 

“All through his tenure, he had nice empathy for the poor. He didn’t conceal the truth that many tens of millions of India are poor and reminded us that authorities’s insurance policies should lean in favour of the poor. Examples of his empathy are MGNREGA and the restructuring of PDS and the extension of the mid-day meal scheme.

“His story has not been instructed totally. His achievements haven’t been recorded totally. I’m certain once we look again upon the 23 years that Dr Singh was in energetic politics, we are going to notice his true contribution,” stated Mr Chidambaram.

Manmohan Singh is survived by spouse Gurcharan Singh and three daughters.