The Dr Manmohan Singh I knew

I first met Dr Manmohan Singh when he was the Union Finance Minister, at a lunch hosted by N Janardhana Reddy, the Chief Minister of. Andhra Pradesh, at the Chief Minister’s residence. I was then the Secretary of the planning department of the state and also Secretary, ex-officio, to the Chief Minister. It was a small group, just the Chief Minister, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, K Madhava Rao, and I, apart from Dr Manmohan Singh.

As always, Mrs. Janardhana Reddy had produced a delectable fare, including the mutton cooked in Gongura, the special type of spinach leaf which Andhra Pradesh is famous for. The distinguished guest, however, was a vegetarian, though, he was fa-mously known for having offered, during a visit to Bangladesh in 2011, as Prime Minister of India, to break his vegetarian vow in order to savour the Hilsa fish the country was known for. He therefore, preferred to confine himself only to tasting the vegetarian items on offer, no less delicious.

Those were the days when the country was staging a dramatic recovery from near bankruptcy, thanks to the bold and farsighted approaches adopted by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. During the conversation that en-sued, despite his position, and the reputation he enjoyed as an internationally reputed and distinguished economist, Manmohan Singh came off as a very simple person, polite and soft spoken. That, however, was only the external appearance. His views were firm and clear, and expressed in very gentle terms. I, for one, found it difficult to agree with his stand that public sector enterprises should either make profits or be exited from. I still believe that profitability should be the criterion, and not profit. Not that my view on such matters ever mattered much, anyway!

The next time I had the privilege and honour of working closely with Manmohan Singh was when he became the Prime Minister, and I had been appointed as a Member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), of which Manmohan Singh, as Prime Minister, was the Chairman, as stipulated by the provisions of the Disaster Management Act.

At a meeting of the Authority, with the Prime Minister in the chair, curiously enough, and much against my inclination, General N C Vij, the Vice Chairman of NDMA, had asked me to make a presentation, although it was the subject allotted to another Member. In fact, Vij went on to the extent of saying that he knew, as a former Chief of Army Staff, which weapon to use on which occasion! I dutifully made the presentation, which the Prime Minister appeared to have liked. As the meeting was about to conclude, Manmohan Singh posed what seemed like a very innocent and straightforward query, enquiring how much the country was prepared for, in terms of readiness to manage disasters. All of us were totally stumped, because we had simply not either expected, or prepared for, that question. It was so typical of Manmohan Singh to have hit the nail on its head, without any fuss or attempt to soften the blow. Preparing the answer to that poser was the beginning of a long journey, of research, investigation, analysis, and drawing of conclusions, about the various aspects of the disaster continuum, namely, prevention, preparedness, rescue, relief, and rehabilitation.

After we had completed our tenures, Vij led the team to make a farewell call on Manmohan Singh. With his characteristic gentle smile, and a genuine expression of regret in his eyes, Manmohan bade us good bye, saying, “The country will be grateful to you.” A compliment that will stay in my heart for the rest of my life.

A man who, truly, was given a name that spoke volumes of his character. Manmohan Singh, or the man with a captivating heart!

With a heavy heart, I join the rest of the country in saying adieu to a great son of the country. Though not young at 92, he left us all wishing that he had lived longer, and made his invaluable counsel available to those at the helm of affairs, at this critical juncture.

(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)