1932-2024  

 

FORMER Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the architect of India’s economic reforms, died here on Thursday night. He was 92. Singh’s death was announced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, where he was admitted in the Emergency ward around 8.30 PM in a critical condition. An AIIMS bulletin said “he was treated for age related medical conditions and had sudden loss of consciousness at home” on December 26. “Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to medical emergency at AIIMS Delhi at 8.06 pm.

 

Despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9.51 pm,” said the bulletin. Singh, who was Prime Minister for two terms in the Congress-led UPA Government from 2004 to 2014, had been in poor health for the last few months. He is survived by wife Gurcharan Singh and three daughters. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her mother Sonia Gandhi reached the hospital as soon as the news of his hospitalisation became known. Singh, who was Finance Minister under the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, was the architect and the brainchild of economic reforms in 1991 that pulled India from the brink of bankruptcy and ushered in an era of economic liberalisation that is widely believed to have changed the course of India’s economic trajectory.

 

Singh died as the Congress party concluded its Congress Working Committee meeting at Belagavi in Karnataka, where all top party leaders were present. It is believed that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are on their way to Delhi from Belagavi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed grief over the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Taking to X, Prime Minister Modi wrote: “India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders, Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji. Rising from humble origins, he rose to become a respected economist. He served in various Government positions as well, including as Finance Minister, leaving a strong imprint on our economic policy over the years. His interventions in Parliament were also insightful. As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives.”