A year ago, on Boxing day, India’s 13th prime minister Manmohan Singh passed away, leaving behind a tremendous legacy which had earned him both admirers and detractors.
Ten years before he died, in 2014, as Singh demitted office as Prime Minister after a crushing electoral defeat, he remarked with a touch of bitterness, “History will judge me (more) kindly”. Indeed, it will.
When Manmohan Singh became India’s Finance Minister in 1991, the country was weeks away from bankruptcy. The collapse of the Soviet union had wiped out a major trading partner, while the Gulf War had seen global oil prices soaring.
The country had just a little more than a billion dollars in its forex kitty, which meant it had just enough foreign exchange to finance three weeks of imports. Moody’s had slashed India’s sovereign rating to junk status, and inflation had surged to nearly 14 per cent, hitting the country’s large middle class hard.
Called upon at a moment of national crisis, the economist-turned- central bank governor acted decisively. One of Singh’s first moves was to devalue the rupee in two tranches by nearly 20 per cent, incentivising exports and helping India earn the desperately needed foreign exchange to stay afloat.
As Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996 in Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao’s Cabinet, Singh became the architect of India’s liberalisation. He brought in India’s version of ‘Perestroika’, dismantling the bureaucratic ‘License-Permit Raj’ that had long stifled growth.
The results were phenomenal: the stagnant Indian economy soared like a Phoenix to heights unheard of till then. India’s GDP growth which had averaged just 3.5 per cent annually till then, rose dramatically to over 7 per cent, at times going past 8.5 per cent.
These reforms had deep social consequences. The automobile industry flourished as global and domestic manufacturers set up factories across the country. Cars became affordable for the middle class, while two-wheelers reached lower-income households. Families once dependent on overcrowded public transport could now own Marutis, Daewoos, or Tatas, symbols of a changing India.
Rising incomes improved dietary habits, increasing protein consumption, while electronic gadgets, once luxuries due to the high prices relative to incomes, became household essentials as competition drove costs down.
Perhaps most significantly, Singh opened India to the world. International investors flocked to the country encouraged by a new growth story in a nation known for its huge population base. At the same time, Indian companies expanded overseas, showcasing India’s goods, talent, and expertise, vowing the world with its offering of trained IT personnel and cheaply produced mass market goods.
The nation re-emerged as a global economic force, transitioning from a tightly controlled stuttering economy into the age of technology, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
However to dismiss Singh as just an “economic mandarin-turned premier” would be the understatement of a century.
He proved to be a skilled politician and a respected global statesman. In 2004, when Congress President Sonia Gandhi declined the prime ministership, Singh assumed the office. He allowed her to manage party affairs while he focused on governance, supported Pranab Mukherjee, who with his vast experience oversaw much of the government’s day-to-day functioning.
One of Singh’s key achievements was bringing India into the global nuclear fold. Despite becoming a nuclear power in 1974, India had remained internationally isolated.
Singh’s negotiations with the United States culminated in the historic civil-nuclear agreement, placing India within an exclusive global club, despite fierce opposition from Left allies who eventually withdrew their support to his government.
The successful negotiations with the US placed India in the exclusive nuclear club, despite strong opposition from his Leftist allies, who deserted him over the deal, forcing him to choose Mamata Banerjee’s TMC over the CPI(M) as his ally.
After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Singh used diplomatic strategy to isolate Pakistan’s rulers and their proxies, transforming a regional issue into a global one. This allowed India to gain new allies and strengthen its position, without resorting to military action.
However, Singh’s second term was marred by growing public discontent as corruption scandals involving Cabinet ministers eroded trust, while sustained parliamentary obstruction by an assertive opposition led to policy paralysis and a relative economic slowdown.
Senior BJP leader Lal K. Advani famously labelled him India’s “weakest Prime Minister.” Singh stood by his record, asserting that his government had acted in the nation’s best interests.
Where Singh truly struggled was in navigating the art of image building. He failed to effectively communicate his achievements, and many of his policies were only fully appreciated years later.
Despite this, over time, many will remember Singh for the lasting positive changes he brought to India’s economy and society, often without much fanfare. History will likely judge him far more favourably as the years unfold, for transforming the country, freeing it from bureaucratic controls and economic stagnation, while opening the door to a new age of opportunities.