Manmohan Singh is considered the architect of the country’s modern economy. He gave a new direction to India’s economy. But apart from this he also did many important works which are less discussed. Manmohan Singh was the first Prime Minister of the country to set a green target to fight the climate crisis. During his tenure as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, he formulated the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) policy. India has officially joined the world’s green goals. He took steps ranging from green energy to reducing carbon emissions.
One of the most important institutions was formed in the government of Manmohan Singh, whose name is National Green Tribunal. This government statutory body known as NGT in short was established in 2010. By creating a separate agency to handle environmental matters, Manmohan Singh expedited legal proceedings to resolve issues raised regarding environment and natural resources. India was the third country in the world after Australia and New Zealand to create an institution like National Green Tribunal. In 2006, the Manmohan Singh government brought the Forest Rights Act. This was a very far-reaching step. Forest dwelling tribes were neglected for hundreds of years. Especially in cases where they have been living for centuries, it is a question of land. The Manmohan Singh-led UPA government enacted legislation to protect the environment and the interests of tribals. This Act resolved 25 lakh land disputes. Of these, 23.7 lakh individual disputes were settled and land was given to the tribal community.
He launched the National Solar Mission in 2008 to take the country towards clean energy and laid the foundation for making the country a leader in solar energy.
Supreme Court removes Manmohan Singh’s name from coal scam accused
When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister in his second term, he had the charge of the Coal Ministry along with other ministries. There were allegations of irregularities in the allocation of Talabira-2 mine. This was being investigated. The lower court judge called Manmohan Singh and other accused to appear in the court. Manmohan Singh applied for relief against this in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court accepted Manmohan Singh’s petition. In that controversy, Coal Ministry Secretary HC Gupta was accused of irregularities in mine allocation. The Supreme Court said that Manmohan Singh made the allocation on the basis of Gupta’s recommendations and did not take any suspicious step by taking his decision in view of the recommendation. He had no reason not to accept the Secretary’s recommendations. On this basis they do not become accused. The Supreme Court removed his name from the list of accused.
Manmohan Singh broke the fast of the opposition Chief Minister with a phone call
The proof that Manmohan Singh was an Ajatashatru is being found after his death. Leaders of opposition parties of Congress are also praising Manmohan Singh. When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, he used to talk to the Chief Ministers of those states where the opposition party was in power. Even the opposition Chief Minister could not ignore Manmohan Singh’s words. Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan has written on social media that Manmohan Singh has always been different from other politicians. When he was the Prime Minister, he used to cooperate with the Chief Ministers of every state. Once I was on a fast regarding the problems of the farmers of the state, then Manmohan Singh called me and asked me to break the fast by assuring that the problem would be resolved. I believed his words and immediately left the fast.
Manmohan became emotional after meeting his childhood friend from Pakistan
After the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, many cases related to him have started coming up. One such case is from 2008. Then he met his childhood friend Raja Muhammad Ali, who had come from Pakistan. Manmohan Singh was born on 26 September 1932 in Gah village of Chakwal district of Punjab, undivided India. He came to India at the time of partition. When Manmohan became Prime Minister in 2004, this news reached his village in Pakistan, due to which his old friend Raja Mohammad Ali wanted to meet him. Both were close friends in childhood. Raja Ali used to call Manmohan as Mohana in his childhood. In 2008, Raja Ali came to India to meet his friend Manmohan and at that time both of them were more than 70 years old. Manmohan immediately hugged his friend. Both friends gave gifts to each other. Ali brought soil and water from the village for Manmohan and also gave a picture of the village. He gave a 100-year-old shawl to Singh and a salwar kameez to his wife. Manmohan gave him a turban, a shawl and a set of Titan watches.
Farewell to the architect of the economy…
Young technocrats encouraged to join government
Rakesh Mohan, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Committee, described Manmohan Singh as the architect of the country’s modern economy.
Rakesh Mohan, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Committee, former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank and famous economist of India, termed Manmohan Singh as the architect of India’s modern economy and said that Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister who encouraged young leadership. Manmohan Singh always encouraged young technocrats to join the government. Young economists were creating an environment to work with the government and giving opportunities to the youth in the government.
Rakesh Mohan said that when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of the country from 2004 to 2014 and before that when he was the Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996, he gave opportunity to those economists who were young at that time. When he was the Prime Minister, he appointed Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Shankar Acharya, Arvind Virmani along with me in the Economic Advisory Committee.
He shared the story: I was 32-33 years old then. He returned to the country after studying abroad for several years. At the same time I got a chance to work in the government. I wondered what responsibility would be given to a 33-year-old young man? At that time Manmohan Singh was the Secretary in the Planning Commission. He entrusted me with the responsibility of four important committees. Which included urban housing, urban development etc.
Daughters are also top in their field
Like other qualities of Manmohan Singh, his quality of keeping his personal family away from politics was also attention-grabbing. Very few people know about Manmohan Singh’s personal life. Manmohan Singh has three daughters. These three daughters have earned name in their respective fields. Upinder Singh is a renowned historian and Dean of Ashoka University. Before this he was also the head of the history department at Delhi University. The second daughter, Amrit Singh, is a renowned human rights lawyer. Amrit Singh obtained his law degree from Stanford University, USA. He is a big name in the field of global human rights. The third daughter Taman Singh is active in the field of writing. He has written the biography of Manmohan Singh ‘Strictly Personal Manmohan and Gurusharan Memorial’.
Interesting case of Manmohan in the book of former British PM Cameron!
There were serial blasts in Mumbai in July 2011. After this blast, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that if Pakistan attacked again, India would take military action against Pakistan. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron had written this in his autobiography ‘For the Record’ in 2019. In this book, Cameron has openly praised Manmohan Singh. Cameron described Manmohan Singh as a saint and wrote that he was ready to deal with any threat facing India. During an interview with Cameron, Manmohan Singh said that if Pakistan carries out terrorist attacks like Mumbai in July 2011, military action will be taken against Pakistan.
