In the corridors of the Delhi School of Economics (DSE), where ideas often find shape and future leaders are quietly moulded, the memories of former prime minister Manmohan Singh remain deeply etched.

Long before he became the architect of India's economic liberalisation and later, its prime minister, Singh was a professor at the DSE, nurturing minds with the clarity and grace that would go on to define his public life.

The DSE community is in mourning following the demise of Singh, who breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Thursday at the age of 92.

The institution remembers him not just as a celebrated economist and statesman but as one of its own -- a mentor, a colleague and an honorary professor.

"The DSE fraternity is saddened at the passing away of former prime minister and a highly-distinguished DSE fraternity member, Dr Manmohan Singh. He served as a professor at the Delhi School of Economics from 1969 to 1971.

"In 1971, he left the DSE only to work as an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the chief economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance and in various other senior positions, such as the finance minister and later, as the prime minister. He was the chief architect of the 1991 reforms that set our economy on a fast growth path. As the prime minister, he positioned India as an important player in the emerging geopolitical order," Ram Singh, director of the DSE, told PTI.

Reflecting on his memories of the former prime minister, his former colleague and a member of the Centre for Development Economics, Om Prakash, said, "I had the proud privilege of being a colleague of Professor Manmohan Singh at the DSE in the early 1970s. I found him to be an extremely helpful and kind man, always willing to help his younger colleagues." "Even after he left the department, he was always available to help you in whichever way he could. I will always remember him as a gentleman and an extraordinarily kind person," he added.

Singh's connection with the DSE endured for long after he left the institute. He served as an honorary professor at the Centre for Development Economics and frequently engaged with the school, whether as a guest speaker or as a source of quiet encouragement.

In 2006, two years after becoming the prime minister, he visited the DSE and awarded the toppers of the MA Economics stream with the Manmohan Singh scholarship, reflecting his pivotal role in its intellectual foundation.

Earlier this year, Singh, whose health conditions were deteriorating, penned a heartfelt message to the director of the DSE, declining an invitation to deliver the valedictory address for the institution's diamond-jubilee celebrations.

"Much as I would have been happy to accept your kind invitation, I regret that because of the indifferent state of my health, I will not be able to accept your kind request," he wrote, signing off with his best wishes for the event.

The last rites of the former prime minister will be performed at 11:45 am on Saturday at the Nigambodh Ghat crematorium here with State honours, the Union home ministry has said.

Singh's death was announced by the AIIMS, where he was admitted in a critical condition at around 8:30 pm on Thursday.

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