Montek Singh Ahluwalia praises Manmohan Singh for his efforts to bring 138 million people out of ‘below poverty line’

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was commended by economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia for his efforts to lift 138 million people out of the “below poverty line (BPL).” India’s economic development accelerated under Singh’s leadership, according to Ahluwalia, the former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India.

“People seem to forget that becoming prime minister does not include managing a separate department. You must evaluate yourself based on the nation’s performance. According to that criteria, India expanded more quickly under his administration than it has ever done and more quickly than it has since. For the first time, 138 million people were lifted out of poverty during this time. Montek told ANI in an exclusive interview that prior to then, the proportion of people living below the poverty level was declining, but as the population grew, so did the number of individuals living below the poverty line.

Montek said that it is necessary to evaluate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s term in its totality. The most significant accomplishment of his second tenure, he noted, was the Indo-US nuclear agreement that released India from nuclear limits.

“If you evaluate him as prime minister and consider the whole impact, it was positive. The Indo-US nuclear agreement, which released India from nuclear limitations, was another significant accomplishment at the time, according to the famous economist.

In response to the question of whether Manmohan Singh was a better finance minister or prime minister, Montek clarified that the two positions are distinct because of his “historic” accomplishments as finance minister and the greatest growth the nation has had under his leadership.

“The two occupations vary greatly. Because he reversed the strategies we had been using for the previous 30 years, his accomplishments as Finance Minister were historic. He was leading an economy that had previously seen some changes in his capacity as prime minister. It would be unrealistic to expect him to act in the same manner as the PM. A prime minister has very distinct problems. When you are the FM amid a crisis, you may do things with the PM’s support. You must reach an agreement while the economy is doing well and not experiencing a catastrophe. “He accomplished a lot in his second term,” Montek said.

In the meanwhile, Montek maintained that in order for the economy to realize its growth goals, the government must immediately provide a clear plan for lowering the federal and state governments’ budget deficits. He said that private investments were being hampered by India’s huge budget deficit, which was far higher than that of other emerging nations.