Did you know? Cambridge offers scholarship named after former PM Manmohan Singh

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Manmohan Singh, quoted a line from a book he held dear called Our India. Reciting it from memory to the interviewer Singh said, "One man in every five is an Indian."

He said it bothered him that despite have such a population, poverty is rampant across India.

Just a few months after assuming the prime ministerial position, Manmohan Singh was interviewed by an American journalist called Charlie Rose.

In this interview, he talked about his early life and how he hailed from an agricultural family. Growing up with meagre means, he stressed on the importance of education and emphasised that scholarships enabled him to go abroad and attain education.

"I think that`s a tribute to our system of scholarships. I could have never afford -- I could have never afforded to go to Oxford or Cambridge on the basis of resources at my disposal", he said.

"My parents could not send me, but I did well in the examinations in India, and therefore I was able to win a scholarship. And that is how I went to Cambridge. Then I did well in Cambridge, and Oxford University gave me a fellowship, so that`s how I am the product of the scholarship system"

Singh was born in a village in Gah (present-day Pakistan) in undivided Punjab western region in 1932. After the Partition, he along with his family shifted to India.

Singh earned his Masters in Economics in 1948 and then went on to St John's College Cambridge, United Kingdom where he earned a BA in Economics in 1957. He graduated with First Class Honours.

He later on went to earn an D. Phil in Economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962.

Manmohan Singh's alma mater Cambridge announced a scholarship in his name.

 “Cambridge made me. The values, the ideas and the discipline instilled in me at Cambridge have lasted through my life.” Singh said.

This scholarship—which has a special focus on Science, Technology, Economics and Social Sciences—will enable students hailing from all socio-economic backgrounds to get an education at the prestigious institution.

The former prime minister of India and the architect of the 1991 economic reforms Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday in Delhi at the age of 92.

He was admitted to AIIMS last evening in critical condition.  A national mourning of seven days was declared with the Cabinet is set to meet at 11 am.

Singh is survived by his wife and three daughters.