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Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passes away: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh died on Thursday (26 December) night at AIIMS, Delhi. He breathed his last at the age of 92. Dr. Manmohan Singh, who held the post of Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, was given the post of Finance Minister at a time when the country was facing a serious financial crisis. In the year 1991, when he was given the responsibility of Finance Ministry. At that time India had foreign exchange of only 89 million dollars. With this money the import cost can be covered in just two weeks. But after assuming power he reversed his decisions. Let us know the interesting case of Dr. Manmohan Singh becoming Finance Minister….
India was going through a severe economic crisis
In June 1991, when the then Prime Minister of India, P.V. When Narasimha Rao assumed power he received very serious information about the economic condition of the country. This eight-page note was given to him by Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra. It has been said in the note that India is going through a serious economic crisis and what tasks should the Prime Minister give importance to. It was said that the country had very little foreign exchange reserves left, from which only a few weeks worth of imports could be made.
The condition of India’s foreign exchange reserves was so bad that by August 1990 it had reduced to 3 billion 11 dollars. In January 1991 it fell to just $89 million. Import of which may cost only two weeks. This situation has arisen due to many reasons. In 1990, due to the Gulf War, the price of oil increased manifold. India had to bring back thousands of its citizens from Kuwait. The result was that their foreign exchange remittances stopped altogether. Apart from this, political instability in the country and opposition to the recommendations of the Mandal Commission also weakened the economy. To fight the economic challenges of the country, the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao Dr. Manmohan Singh was elected Finance Minister.
Wake up Manmohan Singh and make him Finance Minister!
In the 80s, interest rates on short-term loans taken by India increased. The inflation rate has increased to 16.7 percent. Seeing these difficult circumstances, the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao wanted a Finance Minister in his cabinet who could get him out of the economic crisis. He asked his friend P.C. Told to. Spoke to Alexander, who was Principal Secretary to Indira Gandhi. Alexander told him about former RBI governors IG Patel and Manmohan Singh. Sikandar was in favor of Manmohan Singh, hence he was given the responsibility of talking to Manmohan Singh.
P.C. Alexander has written in his autobiography ‘Through the Corridors of Power: An Inside Story’, ‘On June 20, I called Manmohan Singh’s house. His servant picks up the phone and says that he has gone to Europe and will return to Delhi by late night. On June 21, when I called him again at 5.30 in the morning, the servant said that Saheb was in deep sleep and could not be woken up. After my request he woke up Manmohan Singh and I spoke to him. Meanwhile I told him that it is very important for me to meet you. I will reach your house soon. After some time, when I reached Manmohan Singh’s house, Manmohan Singh was sleeping again.
Alexander wrote, ‘Manmohan Singh was somehow awakened again and he told about his conversation with Narasimha Rao. They want to hand over the finance ministry to you. When Manmohan Singh wanted to know my opinion on this, he replied, if I was against him, I would not have come to meet you at this time. However, Manmohan Singh’s name was then announced as the Finance Minister.’
