This week Pranab Mukherjee will complete his first year as the Head of the State. The 77-year old President has been in public service for 44 years occupying different positions at different times and mostly such as are considered sensitive from any standard. He ranks foremost among the most senior political stalwarts of the country who have served the nation with full dedication.
Judging him from how he has handled the high office of the Head of the State, we can say that he has been absolute stickler to the Constitution and does not deviate an iota from what the Constitution stipulates. This is not anything new about him. As an astute parliamentarian, as a minister and as a party office bearer, he has been considered a great stickler of rules and discipline, which he never broke. Whenever the Parliament went into bouts of fierce expression of sentiments, he would counsel coolness and sobriety. Thus he came to be known as the trouble-shooter of his party. Moderation has been the hallmark of his conduct of business so much so that he even advised the judiciary to avoid over reach. Going strictly by the law of the land as enshrined in the Constitution, President Pranab Mukherjee disposed off the case of the 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab and the Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Much hullabaloo was created in regard to the final disposal of the case of the latter. In doing so he simply went by the decision of the cabinet.
The President, during the course of first year in the office, interacted with various sections of society at intellectual and educational level. He can make his point with extraordinary lucidity and force of conviction as he showed it when addressing convocations. He is not short of new or innovative ideas. As a man of the masses, he feels at home when interacting with people, listening to them and responding to their problems. During the first year in office, the President never betrayed any sign of having deviated from his love of feeling at home with people who have put him in the exalted position of the President of the State. Interaction with people comes naturally to him. But this does not mean that he is not conscious of the protocol which, he in his capacity as the Head of the State is expected to maintain. To him the culture of protocol is part of high discipline expected from the Head of the State. Let us put it statistically. During the last one year as the President of the country of over one billion people, he traveled to 23 States, which include five States of Northeast during which he visited 36 educational institutions.
Brought up in the strict nationalistic traditions, President Pranab Mukherjee is the first to have dropped the honorific of “His Excellency”, which, of course, is the legacy from the British rule. He frankly said that he was not comfortable with such honorifics. Dropping the honorific simply meant that he wants to be treated at par with the people to whose service he has dedicated his entire life. Not only that, he has seen to it that Rashtrapati Bhavan is seen as a place of people that houses the guardian of their rights and of the Constitution. He has ordered renovation of the Presidential House to reduce maintenance and increase its utility. This is exemplified by the renovation of Durbar Hall that had fallen into disuse for some time. Its adjoining library has found a new life of activity and interaction. Latyens designed the Presidential Bhavan at a time when the British ruled India. At that time ceremonials were given more importance, and the magnificent building on Raisina hills was considered the symbol of British colonial power. But this thinking and this mindset need to be changed and the Rashtrapati Bhavan has to be taken as the symbol of the free spirit of Indian nation. It is this motivation that has prompted President Pranab Mukherjee to ask for renovation of the Durbar Hall and the Library or other changes in the historical complex. Now Durbar Hall is back to its pristine glory and fitted with an ultra-modern acoustic system to cut down the echo, which was a big problem while conducting programs in the hall with its 33 m tall dome.
A memorable decision taken by the President during the period of first year of his presidency pertains to the restoration of this heritage building of 340 rooms designed by Lutyens eighty-five years ago and spread over a stretch of 320 acres of land. The library containing rare books from 19th century was in a dilapidated shape and books were dumped in the rooms. Now these have been placed properly in the almirhas that were built way back in 1930. It has got a shape and adds to the richness of the heritage. The Morning Room, Committee Room, Garden Loggia and North and South Drawing Rooms, Library, durbar hall, museums, antique furniture and specially rare books were given carefully renovations under the guidance of specialists to bring them back to their pristine best. Likewise the audio-visual section has been given shape as it contains rich trove of speeches by eminent personalities like Lord Mountbatten, Rajendra Prasad and Dr. Radhakrishnan.
An audio-visual section with rare and old speeches of Lord Mountbatten, former presidents Rajendra Prasad, Dr S Radhakrishnan as well as films of Films Division archives has been set up. President Mukherjee has desired that this heritage building should become a prized possession of the people of India and as such the best way was to make their access to the complex easy. Now people will be facilitated to visit the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Mughal Gardens without many hassles.
The President was greatly disturbed by the ghastly gang rape of a young girl in Delhi last winter. That is why in his speeches at the convocations and other educational functions he urged the student and teaching community to place high value to moral aspect of life.
The year that has gone by has been full of noble acts for the President of India and we are hopeful that in the years to come, the President will give a new shape to the high office that he holds. Hopefully he will prove to be the man of the masses.
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