Bhubaneswar: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away yesterday. A lesser knowns fact about is he had family ties with Odisha. His daughter married in Odisha, to an Odia man. His daughter Daman Singh is married to Odia IPS officer Ashok Pattnaik.
Despite being a non-Oda Prime Minister, former PM Manmohan Singh was attracted to Odisha food, traditions and customs.
The second daughter of Singh is married to an Odisha man. That is why the former Prime Minister loved Odisha very much. He used to visit Odisha both before and after taking the office (of PM).
His daughter Daman Singh graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and studied rural management at IRMA, Gujarat. She is also known as a known writer. In 1991, she married to IPS officer Ashok Patnaik. Daman’s nickname is Nonu. She was known by this name in her in-laws’ house in Odisha.
His son-in-law Ashok Patnaik, is a Gujarat cadre Indian Police Service Officer. This 1983 batch IPS has worked as the CEO of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID). After Manmohan Singh’s term as Prime Minister, i.e. from 2016 to 2018, he was the CEO of the Intelligence Grid Network, which was undergoing major reforms to track criminals and suspects.
In 2007, Ashok received the President’s Police Medal, which was bestowed on him by Manmohan Singh when he was Prime Minister.
As per reports, like Manmohan’s family, Ashok’s family is also very simple. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Odisha in January 2012, his wife Gursharan Kaur had visited Ashok’s house in Bhubaneswar. Ashok’s family is originally from Cuttack, but now they live in Bhubaneswar. At that time, Ashok’s mother Ratnamala expressed her happiness for Gursharan.
