Sardar of reforms: A legacy that is shaping India's future

Former PM Manmohan Singh's legacy lies in his ability to balance economic growth with social equity

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad, Rhik Kundu & Subhash Narayan

Some of the key policies and schemes that today underpin India's pursuit of inclusive growth rely on the nuts and bolts built during Manmohan Singh's decade-long prime ministership between 2004 and 2014, building on the country's bold embrace of reforms in 1991 during his term as finance minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government, according to economists and observers.

Transfer of welfare benefits straight to the account of the recipient, the rural jobs scheme named after Mahatma Gandhi that offers a legally guaranteed fall-back option to many whenever the weather-dependant rural economy suffers a shock, and a law guaranteeing food security shine through India's welfare framework, while the Aadhaar-backed identification system powers India's digital economy success.

A towering statesman and the driving force behind India's economic reforms, Singh passed away on Thursday at 92, leaving a legacy that has reshaped India's economic and welfare landscape.

"He was an economist par excellence and ensured economic stability and liberalization of the economy. He effectively handled inflation and unemployment. Additionally, when the entire world faced the financial crises of 2008, he ensured that all banks in India were stable," M. Veerappa Moily, former Union minister of petroleum, law, power and corporate affairs, and former chief minister of Karnataka, said in a social media post.

Moily, who served in Manmohan Singh's cabinet, said Singh "was a good man, and I will miss him very dearly."