I can say that in 10 ten years that I held the portfolios of Science & Technology, Human Resource Development, IT and Telecom and Law & Justice, Manmohan Singh, or for that matter, Sonia Gandhi, never called me asking to do things in a certain manner
Dr Manmohan Singh was the quintessential prime minister. An unassuming, affable, collaborative, thoughtful personality who was a great listener. He had a fragile frame but nerves of steel. When it came to the crunch, he was unwilling to compromise with principles that he held close to his heart.
We must not forget that India in 1991 faced a fierce economic crisis, and as finance minister in Narasimha Rao’s government, he was the one who unshackled the Indian economy. He eliminated the industrial licence requirement for most sectors, removed limits on capital accumulation, allowed imports of a majority of goods without a licence, reduced tariffs and, in a large number of sectors, eliminated restrictions on foreign investments. In fact, he opened up the private sector to many of the activities that were reserved for the public sector. To give a boost to liquidity, he deregulated interest rates. The results were for all to see.
