Manmohan Singh born 26 September 1932 is an Indian retired politician, economist, academician and bureaucrat who served as the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014.
A member of the Indian National Congress, Singh was the first Sikh prime minister of India. He was also the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term. He is the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Singh, who had thus far been one of the most influential architects of India’s socialist economy, eliminated the permit raj, reduced state control of the economy, and reduced import taxes.
In praise of Singh’s work that pushed India towards a market economy, long-time Cabinet minister P. Chidambaram has compared Singh’s role in India’s reforms to Deng Xiaoping’s in China.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–1976), governor of the Reserve Bank (1982–1985) and head of the Planning Commission (1985–1987). – Manmohan Wiki
