In March 2024, the World Inequality Lab published a paper on economic inequality in India, with an eye-grabbing headline: “India’s ‘Billionaire Raj’ Is Now More Unequal Than the British Colonial Raj.” The coauthors of this piece, including noted economist Thomas Piketty, trace the steep rise in inequality to the 1990s, a decade that saw the full embrace of neoliberalism in India, building on a set of International Monetary Fund–approved reforms in 1991.
The figure most associated with the 1991 reforms is Manmohan Singh, who was finance minister for the Indian National Congress (INC)–led government at the time and went on to serve as India’s prime minister for two terms (from 2004 to 2014). Singh passed away on December 26 at the age of ninety-two, and his death has unleashed a flood of praise for his leadership and legacy, even from progressive media outlets. The Wire, a news media site known for its independence and critical analysis, has published no less than ten glowing reflections on Singh’s life and work.
Why such praise for the architect of economic reforms that have led to such glaring inequalities?
One reason is the dictum not to speak ill of the dead. However, as noted in one of the few critical reflections on Singh in the Indian media space, an appreciation of Singh’s many personal virtues should not preclude a careful analysis of his role as a public political figure and the contested impact of the policies he championed.
Another reason for the rosy picture of Singh is simply that he is not Narendra Modi, leader of the rightwing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Singh’s successor as prime minister. There is nostalgia for Singh’s decency, his intellectual acuity, and his commitment to the…
Auteur: Thomas Crowley
