Former PM Dr #Manmohan Singh Turns Professor At His #Panjab #University

#Chandigarh:  Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will soon take up a new job. The 83-year-old will teach at the Panjab University, university officials say they may offer him the option of teaching via videoconference at times. where he has taught before and has also been a student. Dr Manmohan  Singh, an economist credited with steering reforms in the 1990s as finance minister, has accepted the position of professor for the university’s Jawaharlal Nehru Chair. He delivered his last lecture there around 50 years ago. Given his schedule and age, university officials say they may offer him the option of teaching via videoconference at times.

Dr Manmohan  Singh completed his masters from the Panjab University in 1954 with top honours. He joined the university as a senior lecturer in 1957 and went on to become a professor in 1963 before joining the UN in New York in 1966. “His temperament and his experience will probably help students know how things work… the way international bodies and national bodies work,” said Professor RP Banbah, a former Vice Chancellor of the university, who was Dr Manmohan  Singh’s senior and is believed to have suggested the idea to him. “The Manmohan Singh I have known would have never done something which is not fair and not in the interest of the country,” he remarked. There is a buzz on campus around its most famous student. “We will not only learn about economics as a theoretical subject, but also the policy that led our country away from the depression of 2008 and the 1991 deficit… I believe that it’s going to be a good interaction,” said a student. Dr Singh was prime minister for 10 years until his Congress party lost power in 2014. His government is known for major welfare measures like the job guarantee scheme MGNREGA, though his second term as prime minister was mired by corruption allegations and a perception that the government failed to check the economic downslide.