Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh passed away today in Delhi AIIMS. – file photo
Former Prime Minister of the country Dr. Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92. He breathed his last at Delhi AIIMS on Thursday night. He was the first Sikh leader to hold the post of Prime Minister.
.
Dr. Manmohan Singh had deep connections with Punjab and Chandigarh. He was born on 26 September 1932 in Gah village of Punjab, which is today a part of Pakistan. When the country was partitioned in 1947, Manmohan Singh left Pakistan with his family and came to India. At that time his age was around 15 years.
After coming to India, his family settled in Amritsar. Manmohan Singh did his early studies in Amritsar only. Later he served as a professor at Punjab University (PU), Chandigarh. When Punjab started establishing New Chandigarh in Mullanpur near Chandigarh, it was Manmohan Singh who laid the foundation stone of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in the Medicity there. That was the first major government project of New Chandigarh.
Manmohan Singh, a man of simple nature, on the request of an old friend, also gave a big project like Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) to Punjab.
3 photos related to Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Punjab…
Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal meeting former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in Chandigarh on September 14, 2013.
On July 30, 2017, Dr. Manmohan Singh had attended the funeral ceremony of Mohinder Kaur, mother of former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Property worth Rs. 16 crores, no loan Manmohan Singh, famous for his humble nature and decency, was a Rajya Sabha MP a total of 6 times. He was last elected as Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan in the year 2019. According to the affidavit given in Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singh has total assets worth Rs 15 crore 77 lakh.
He also has a house each in Delhi and Chandigarh. According to the affidavit, Manmohan Singh had no debt. Apart from his wife Gursharan Kaur, he has three daughters in his family.
IISER project given to Punjab on request of friend Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) is located in Mohali, Punjab. There is an interesting story behind Punjab getting this institute. In fact, when Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister of the country in 2004, his friend Dr. Kesar Singh wrote a letter to him.
Kesar Singh in the letter urged to establish IISER in Punjab. Dr. Manmohan Singh accepted his friend’s request. While giving IISER to Punjab, he put a condition that this institute should be built in Mohali only, because air connectivity is good here. Therefore, more and more people will be able to benefit from it. In the year 2007, IISER was ready in Sector-81, Mohali.
On December 30, 2013, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had arrived in Mullanpur New Chandigarh to inaugurate the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital. This was the first project of New Chandigarh.
When Punjab established New Chandigarh, it gave its first government project. Manmohan Singh had great love for Punjab, especially Chandigarh. In the 2007 Punjab Assembly elections, the Akali-BJP alliance got majority and formed the government under the leadership of Prakash Singh Badal. In the 2012 Punjab Assembly elections, the Akali-BJP alliance returned to power.
Since Chandigarh is a Union Territory, at that time the Punjab Government planned to establish a new city by the name of New Chandigarh in Mullanpur area near Chandigarh. This was a very ambitious project and it was being monitored by the then Deputy CM of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal himself.
When the SAD-BJP government asked the then Central Government for a big project for this new city, on December 30, 2013, the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh himself came to inaugurate the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in New Chandigarh. At that time it was the first big government project of New Chandigarh.