Dr. Manmohan Singh, the former finance minister and the Prime Minister of India, served from 2004 to 2014; he is credited with initiating structural reforms that changed the Indian economy.
Major Achievement while Acting as the Finance Minister
- 1991 Economic Reforms:
The devaluation of the rupee helped stabilize the balance of payments crisis and put the Indian exports in the global market at competitive levels.
Trade Liberalisation: Decreased span on tariffs and banished barriers that made the country part of the global economy like any other nation of India .
Abolition of Licence Raj: Such industries that are not controlled by the government much and encouraging more and more private and foreign investments.
Banking Reforms: Reduced rule-based statutory liquidity and cash reserve ratios, decontrolled the interest rates and relaxed the licensing policy to update the financial sector.
These reforms prevented India from arresting at a very low growth rate and developed the structure that could sustain further growth and provided for FDI, exports, and employment.
Legacy as Prime Minister
Dr. Singh’s policies extended beyond economic reforms to focus on inclusive growth:
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA): Assured three hundred wage employment days in a year for rural households eradication of poverty and underemployment.
Right to Information (RTI) Act: Empowered citizens with the free right to access government data.
Right to Education (RTE) Act: Provided free and compulsory education to the children at the age group of 6–14 years.
Impact
Dr. Manmohan Singh has laid many business-motivated policies that provide a new direction for India, changing its economic model from socialist to a market one and thus India became one of the fastest-growing economies of the world.
He pulled millions of people from the depths of poverty, revived the sick banking sector and transformed the industrial structure.
Today, as India pays tributes to the visionary leader, Dr. Singh is remembered for his humility, his academic prowess and his legacy left on the course of the economic growth of the country.
