Born in Gah village in present-day Pakistan, Singh came to India with barely a shirt on his back, recollected Tewari. “Singh understood the struggles of poverty. From the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to the Right to Information (RTI) to the National Food Security Act, RTE to the Street Vendors Act, Dr Singh championed the whole architecture of rights,” he said.While the erudite, soft-spoken Manmohan Singh often faced barbs from his detractors for being a ‘remote-controlled PM’, ‘silent PM’, or lacking a political base, Tewari contested such arguments.”As someone who had the privilege of serving in his government, I can say with full conviction that there was nothing wrong with Dr Singh’s political instincts. He always brushed off those insinuations with the contempt they deserve. I don’t think he required any certificates from anyone,” he said.”Dr Singh was extremely media friendly and addressed a record number of press conferences, both in India and abroad,” Tewari added. On Singh being called an ‘accidental prime minister’, he said, “accidental or not, Manmohan Singh was a transformative prime minister. Dr Singh proved his naysayers wrong by even risking his position as Prime Minister to push the landmark India-US nuclear deal.””Dr Singh firmly believed that India must have access to multi-spectrum sources of energy, because if the economy has to grow, power or energy is the biggest requirement. Notwithstanding that, the Congress had only 146 members in the 14th Lok Sabha. He staked his political career, and political equity and ultimately saw the nuclear deal through,” said the Congress leader. Was the Congress on the same page as Dr Singh on the economic reforms he undertook in 1991? “There are always different points of view. Ultimately, Dr Singh carried the day,” he said.”They ought to be the biggest tribute to Dr Singh’s legacy and the fact that the economic reset of 1991 held the field across so many different administrations in the last 34 years or so. He will be remembered as a leading economic manager who brought all his experience to better the lives of millions of Indians,” he said.”He had saddled many roles as chief economic adviser, union finance secretary, RBI governor, and deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission, which gave him a unique view of the distinct challenges that India faced economically and strategically,” said Tewari.”As finance minister in 1991, when he reset the Indian economy in the wake of the great global change, Singh opened the doors of opportunity for millions of young people to have a better life, better careers, and rewarding jobs,” he added.
Source link
