Manmohan Singh's Advice That Moved Former RBI Governor Subbarao Deeply

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Subbarao shared a piece of advice which his senior Manmohan Singh gave him before he started his tenure at the Indian central bank. The advice which he forgot right after receiving, however, resurfaced and stayed with him during the time he served as the governor.

Singh breathed his last on Thursday night. The eminent economist was 92.

When Subbarao was appointed as the governor in 2008, he went to Singh's office in the South Block to thank him for the confidence he imposed on him. It was only a brief meeting of 15 minutes, Subbarao recounted while talking to NDTV Profit.

The two economists talked about the economy, and their respective tenures as finance secretaries. Subbarao also remembered them discussing living in Mumbai versus Delhi.

Seven to eight minutes into the conversation, Rao asked Singh for advice.

Singh responded with a timid smile and asked what advice he could give Subbarao. Singh explained that Subbarao had worked at the state as well as the national level. Subbarao also knew the workings of the RBI from his time as the finance secretary. Singh expressed confidence that Subbarao would do very well as the governor of RBI. 

When Singh walked Subbarao 'graciously' to the door of his office, Singh paused and gave one bit of advice.

The RBI is different institution, Singh said as Subbarao remembered. "When you go there, you get immersed in numbers: money supply, credit growth, repo rate, interest rate, inflation rate, you forget that there are real people behind that. Remember, whatever you do, there are people behind who will get affected." 

Subbarao forgot about the advice within few minutes after the meeting, he admitted with a smile. However, when he started working in the RBI, within the first six months, he realised the importance of Singh's advice.

What really Singh meant, according to Subbarao, was that one should make efforts to take care of inflation.

Subbarao hailed Singh for the 1991 reforms, calling it transformative. "People will always associate them with Singh," he said.

In the next decade, Singh became prime minister of the country and he held that position for 10 years.

Other important contributions of Singh which Rao recalled include Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and Right To Information, which "really empowered people across the country."