Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a brilliant economist with a visionary outlook on India’s potential, along with with a fine sense of political feasibility, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Friday, according to news agency PTI.
Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday, December 26, 2024, after being admitted to the emergency ward of Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was 92.
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Rajan said Singh was understated and soft-spoken, which were qualities that led him to attract some of the brightest minds to his team, which includes Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Rangarajan, and Rakesh Mohan.
“The liberalisation and reforms he undertook with the support of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao laid the foundations of the modern Indian economy,” he told PTI.
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Rajan who was the 23rd RBI Governor between September 2013 and 2016 had regular meetings with Singh and recalled that he was someone who was always curious.
“Most persons with his experience and achievements would hold forth their views,” he said. “Instead, Dr. Singh heard others out and then tried to make use of what they conveyed, including criticism.
Rajan even said that his meetings with Singh were some of the most enjoyable moments of his time at the RBI.
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“And he was a man of great integrity, never using any of his offices for personal gain,” Rajan added. “He was a great sounding board, but despite his prior experience as governor, he never sought to interfere. He had given me the job, and he would not tell me how to do it unless I asked for advice.”
