Cambridge University Reporter


ACTA

Congregation of the Regent House on 11 October 2006

A Congregation of the Regent House was held at 11.15 a.m.

Music was performed at the Congregation by the King's Trumpeters, the Cambridge Graduate Chamber Ensemble, and the Choir of St John's College.

The following titular degree was conferred:

Doctor of Law (honoris causa)

MANMOHAN SINGH

Prime Minister of India and Honorary Fellow of St John's College

The Orator delivered the following speech when presenting the Prime Minister to the Vice-Chancellor:

Rarissime inter gentis quae se in plebis suffragia obstringunt - nec uos, o gentes Indorum, minimae estis earum quae rem suam sic gerunt! - hoc accidit ut ad summum rei publicae honorem accedat is qui cursum solitum non secutus sapientia potius scholarum muneribusque publicis susceptis fidem meruit. hic uir, temporibus tam incertis adolescens ut diu pater cum se diuidebant gentes amissus abesset, ipse benene studia fecisset non reperire posset, tamen ad academiam usque nostram cum peruenisset (mitrae colorem uideritis!), rebus oeconomicis ut dicuntur ea uirtute studuit ut unus eo anno classe prima census praemio sit ornatus quo commemoratur Adam Smith. haec de eo magister quidam:

hic fuit in studiis quo nullus acutior umquam.

libro quem optimum conscripsit perlecto, in quo mercedem domesticam recte ostendit quantum introrsus augeri et exportari foras posset, multa inuenietis fundamenta bene iacta rationum quibus res tum desperatae nunc prospere geruntur. nam cum multum in scholis magister, multum autem in rebus pecuniariis suasor laborauisset, non fieri poterat quin rogantibus et precantibus ipsis principibus ipse succurreret: praefectus est aerario subsidiario quod dicitur. tum rogatus ut rei aerariae toti praeesset id munus accepit: uinculis multis minutisque solutis mercatorium illud ciuium liberauit ingenium.

postremo rogatus munus totius rei publicae ducendae suscepit. sustineri posse rem publicam negat nisi participem rerum nouandarum plebs esse se sentiat. spectant ad hunc uirum plurimi; uident eum quo nemo magis integer uitae, μηδ' απαλαμνος ειδως γ' ονησιπολιν δικαν, υγιης ανηρ.1

praesento uobis magistrum in artibus, ministrorum Indorum caput, collegi Sancti Iohannis Euangelistae honoris causa socium

MANMOHAN SINGH

1 Simonides, fr. 542.

Among the great democracies - and you, people of India, are not the least among them! - it is very rare indeed for the position of Prime Minister to be entrusted to one who is not a professional politician. Manmohan Singh is a scholar and public servant of great distinction. He grew up in times so perilous that for a long while when India and Pakistan were breaking apart his father went missing and he himself could not discover his own examination results; yet he pursued his studies as far as Cambridge (you may note the colour of his turban), and read Economics with such brilliance that he received the only First of his year and was also awarded the Adam Smith prize. One of his teachers says of him, 'He was the best student I ever had.'

His classic work, still valid, is entitled 'India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth'. You will find argued in it many of the basic ideas which have realised so dramatically the potential of the Indian economy. He spent much time as a university professor and much time also advising the Indian government and others on matters financial. When those government leaders begged and besought him themselves, it was impossible for him to refuse his help; he became Governor of India's Reserve Bank. Then he was asked to become Minister of Finance; he accepted that too. By undoing red tape and removing petty regulations he liberated his fellow citizens' talent for entrepreneurship in business.

Finally came the request to serve as Prime Minister. He accepted, observing: 'You cannot sustain a democratic polity unless those on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder feel they are partners in the process of change.' Millions look to this man: they see in him someone of conspicuous integrity; he is, in the words of the Greek poet Simonides, cool and calm, well aware of the justice that serves the state, and a man of healing virtue.

I present to you

MANMOHAN SINGH, M.A.,

Prime Minister of India and Honorary Fellow of St John's College

The Prime Minister graciously made a short speech in reply.