The death of Dr Manmohan Singh really marks the end of an era for India. His high impact working career from 1987 to 2023 started with ending foreign dominance and ended with the start of India’s domination. It would not be incorrect to say that India may have gone the Pakistan way economically had it not been for his intervention.
I had the honour and privilege of not just knowing him but working directly with him in his role as governor of the Reserve Bank, as Finance Minister of India and finally as the Prime Minister of India. He gave me the honour of helping him draft the first liberalisation framework for a new India (interestingly paid for by the World Bank). As Finance Minister, he made me a member of his disinvestment commission and let me drive the creation of TRAI and of the Venture Capital Regulations without having any formal authority to do so. In his role as Prime Minister, he gave me the honour of helping create the Startup India framework, the AIF framework and the framework for SME listing. He worked hard to create incentives for a semiconductor industry and had it not been for one rotten egg in his ministry – would have succeeded. A number of initiatives from aaadhar to NPCI were conceptualised with his direct participation.
When I went to him for setting up the IIT Alumni framework in 2004, it was he who suggested that we make President Kalam as our chief patron and chief guest for the first meet in 2004. He sat in the audience. He was never one to grab the limelight or even claim credit for things he had done. When I met him last in 2023, his only comment was “why don’t you write a new report on liberalisation 2.0 like you did for liberalisation 1.0”. The reality is that I was really the typist and intern on that project.
I think fulfilling this wish of his would be the only tribute to a great intellectual, a mentor and an outstanding friend.
