Dr. Manohar Singh Gill (born 1936) attended St. George’s school in Mussoorie, India from 1947-1953. He did his BA in History and Political Science with Honours in English Literature and MA Honours in English literature from Government College of Ludhiana and a Doctorate in Development Studies from Punjab University. In 1958, he joined the Indian Administrative Service in the Punjab cadre and served at various places in different capacities in the undivided Punjab until 1966, when Punjab was trifurcated to carve out the separate states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. His postings include Deputy Commissioner of then Lahaul-Spiti district—now in Himachal Pradesh—in 1961/62, during the Chinese war. Later he was Deputy Commissioner of Ambala and Jalandhar districts. In 1967, Dr. Gill went to Cambridge University and did his Masters in Development Studies; subsequently he was invited back on a Nuffield fellowship to write his book, An Indian Success Story: Agriculture and Cooperatives in the Punjab, published by Somaiya publishers, Bombay in 1993. Later, he served as the Development Commissioner of Punjab, as Agriculture Secretary in the Government of India, as well as Petrochemicals, Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Secretary for India.

Dr. Gill was the Chief Election Commissioner from 1996 to 2001. He was responsible for introducing Electronic Voting Machines in 1998. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2000 for his work in this post.

In 2004, Dr. Gill was inducted into the Rajya Sabha from Punjab as a Member of Parliament for two successive terms from 2004–2016. He was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports from 2008 until 2011 and helped facilitate the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi in 2010.

He trained under Everest hero Tenzing Norgay at the Himalayan Institute, Darjeeling in 1960, and climbed upto 20,000 feet in the Parbati Valley in Kulu. He was President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, the apex national body for mountaineering and allied activities for six years from 1992; he was also President of the internationally acclaimed Himalayan Club, the oldest Mountaineering Club of India, and continued as its Emeritus President until 2023.

His published books include Himalayan Wonderland: Travels in Lahaul and Spiti, republished by Penguin in 2010; Tales from the Hills, republished by Harper Collins in 2014; and Putting the Bhagat Singh Statue in Parliament, published by Chetna Prakashan, Ludhiana in 2021. He had been a regular contributor to The Tribune and Indian Express newspapers, as well as Illustrated Weekly and Outlook magazines, among other Indian publications.