New Delhi:
The Government of India on Thursday announced a seven-day mourning in honour of former prime minister Manmohan Singh. The two-term PM breathed his last at AIIMS Delhi on Thursday night. The government said in a press release, “It has been decided that seven days of state mourning will be observed throughout India from 26.12.2024 to 01.01.2025 both days inclusive. During this period the National flag will be flown at half mast throughout India where it is regularly flown and there will be no official entertainment during the period of state mourning. It has also been decided that the state funeral will be accorded to late Dr. Manmohan Singh.”
“The National flag shall also fly half-mast on the day of funeral in all Indian Missions/High Commissions of India abroad,” it added.
All central government programmes scheduled for Friday have been cancelled, and the union cabinet will meet to mourn Singh’s death.
Meanwhile, a seven-day mourning period has been announced in Karnataka after the demise of Manmohan Singh. A government holiday has been declared on 27 December.
The Telangana government has also declared a holiday on Friday for government offices and educational institutions. The state government has declared a mourning period of seven days.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has also cancelled all her government programmes.
Karnataka’s Belgavi, which was decorated with lights for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Thursday, soon descended into darkness after the death of the former PM. A public meeting of Congress was also planned on 27 December, as part of the centenary celebrations of the 1924 Indian National Congress session that was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.
Manmohan Singh, who served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 until 2014, was being treated for age-related medical conditions. He had a sudden loss of consciousness at home on 26 December 2024 and was subsequently hospitalised, AIIMS Delhi said.
Singh, widely regarded as one of India’s finest economists, is credited with opening up India’s economy in 1991. Singh’s policies played a pivotal role in transforming India’s economic framework by championing liberalisation and tackling critical social challenges through focused initiatives.
When Singh took the reins of the Finance Ministry in 1991, India’s fiscal deficit was close to 8.5 per cent of GDP, the balance of payments deficit was huge, and the current account deficit was close to 3.5 per cent of GDP. To make things worse, foreign reserves were just enough to pay for two weeks of imports, indicating that the Indian economy was in deep crisis. Against this backdrop, the new economic era was brought in through the Union Budget 1991-92 presented by Singh.
It was a turning point in the economic history of independent India, which witnessed bold economic reforms, abolition of the licence raj and opening of many sectors to private players and foreign players so that capital could flow in. He is credited with putting India on the new economic policy path, which allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), rupee devaluation, moderation in taxes, and privatisation of public sector companies.
His role in ushering in a comprehensive policy of economic reforms is now recognised worldwide.
