Road Ahead More Daunting: Manmohan Singh On 30 Years Of Economic Reforms

In a statement marking the 30th anniversary of economic liberalisation, Mr Singh said he was deeply saddened at the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The road ahead is even more daunting than during the 1991 economic crisis and the nation would need to recalibrate its priorities to ensure a dignified life for all Indians, said former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday. In a statement marking the 30th anniversary of economic liberalisation, Mr Singh said he was deeply saddened at the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of millions of fellow Indians and livelihoods. Recalling that as finance minister in 1991, he ended his budget speech by quoting Victor Hugo, ''No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come'', and said, "Thirty years later, as a nation, we must remember Robert Frost's poem -- ''But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep'." "It is not a time to rejoice and exult but to introspect and ponder. The road ahead is even more daunting than during the 1991 crisis," Mr Singh said in the statement.