
Manmohan
Singh, best known as ' father of Indian Reforms', has emerged as the
Congress party's frontrunner, the 14th Prime Minister of India and also the
first Sikh to have reached the country's top legislative position. Hailed
to be the cleanest man in Indian politics, he was Former Finance Minister
and author of the post-1991 economic reforms.
He was Born to Mr Gurmukh Singh and Mrs Amrit Kaur on
September 26, 1932 in a small village Gah (West Punjab), now in Pakistan.
A brilliant student, Manmohan Singh secured top marks in almost all the major
examinations he wrote. After his Masters in Economics from Amritsar's Hindu
College under Punjab University he won scholarships to Cambridge
and Oxford, earning a doctorate with a thesis on the critical role of exports
and free trade in India's economy. Manmohan Singh won the prestigious Adam
Smith prize in 1956 from Cambridge University.
The following year, he returned to India as a university
lecturer and for the next nine years remained at Punjab University before
being posted for international duty with UNCTAD (United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development). He then joined the Delhi School of Economics as
a professor. Two years later, his academic career was cut short and he joined
the government to serve in various capacities.
Singh held several positions throughout the 1980s and early
1990s. He served as Economic advisor to the finance ministry in the late 70s, Deputy
Chairman of Planning Commission and Chairman of University Grants Commission
in 1980s and early 1990's and as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
from 1982 to 1985 etc.
An academician, he was discovered by former prime minister
Shri. P.V Narasimha Rao. Rao offered him the finance ministry in 1991 under
the Congress Government, and the chance to rescue a sickly economy threatened
by an acute balance of payments crisis. During his stint as the finance minister
(1991-1996), the suave, soft-spoken Sikh guided India out of financial trouble
and put the country on course to becoming an economic power by opening
up the economy to foreign investment and slashing trade barriers.
Singh was always an unlikely politician, who was routed in
a parliamentary election in 1999. In fact, he has never won an election and
sits in the upper house. Politically, Manmohan Singh is the classic example
of the stateless politician.
After the Indian National Congress won the 2009 general elections,
Singh was reappointed as the Prime Minister of India on May 22, 2009, making
him the first Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power
after completing a full five-year term before this over 40 years ago.
He is married to Gursharan Kaur, they have three daughters.
Contact Address
:
Manmohan Singh,
7, Race Course Road
New Delhi - 110011
Ph:23018939
23018668
23015470
Fax-23015603