Manmohan Singh Death: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Pays Heartfelt Tribute to the Former PM | ABP News

Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday, December 26, 2024. He was admitted to the emergency department of AIIMS, Delhi, around 8 PM after experiencing breathing difficulties. Dr. Singh, who served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, retired from the Rajya Sabha earlier this year, concluding a 33-year-long tenure in the Upper House. India’s first and only Sikh Prime Minister, he entered the Rajya Sabha in 1991, four months after being sworn in as Finance Minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao’s government. Representing Assam for five terms, he later shifted to Rajasthan in 2019. His final speech in Parliament was a critique of demonetization, describing it as "organized loot and legalized plunder." In 2021, he remarked that the crisis in unemployment and the informal sector stemmed from the unthoughtful demonetization decision in 2016. Born on September 26, 1932, in Punjab, Dr. Singh graduated and completed his post-graduation in Economics from Punjab University. He earned a degree in Economics Tripos from Cambridge University in 1957 and a D.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University in 1962. After teaching at Punjab University and the Delhi School of Economics, he joined the Government of India in 1971 as Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce. In 1972, he was promoted to Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance. Following a brief stint with the UNCTAD Secretariat, he was appointed Secretary-General of the South Commission in Geneva from 1987 to 1990. Dr. Singh also served as Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Chairman of the University Grants Commission, contributing significantly to India’s economic and administrative landscape.