From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee is to complete a year in office on Thursday and has already visited most North East states and is scheduled to come to Meghalaya in October.
On the contrary, the President has made only two foreign visits during the year but travelled extensively within the country. He will attend the convocation ceremony of NEHU where he is a Visitor.
On Thursday the President will unveil a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi sculpted by a an 89-year-old man and launch a project to digitise rare photographs.
The President will begin his day by inaugurating “Pranab Mukherjee Public Library” for the residents of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The library was built in a dilapidated building in the President’s Estate which was scheduled for demolition.
However, it was renovated and converted into a library for use by the residents of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate and their children, Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Venu Rajamony said in a statement.
Another engagement for the residents of President’s estate, which houses nearly 8,000 residents, will be a cricket ground at Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya.
The stadium, constructed according to latest BCCI guidelines, is aimed at providing better cricket facilities to the students of the school, established in 1949 and which has 60 teachers and 1600 students.
During the day, Mukherjee will interact with Governors across the country through a new video conferencing facility installed in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He will host a dinner for the Council of Ministers.
A new section of digital initiatives will be inaugurated by Mukherjee and will be linked to the official website of the President. A video, “The Presidency: Glimpses of First Year”, will be added to the website which will cover important events over the past one year in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the President’s Estate.
A digital photo library with photographs of the first year of Mukherjee’s presidency is being added to the website.
The photo library when completed is expected to have a database of over three million photographs, Rajamony said.
A catalogue of 1525 old and rare books of Rashtrapati Bhavan is being added to the website for the information of public along with select portions of the audio-visual section of the library.
The oldest book in the library — “The Original Works of William Hogarth” — dates back to 1795. The audio-visual section includes historical speeches, newsreels and documentaries procured from sources like All India Radio and Films Division.
Rare historical speeches like “Tryst with Destiny” and “Death of Mahatma Gandhi” delivered by Jawarharlal Nehru and speeches of Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari, former presidents and other prominent leaders will also be available in this section.
The films include archival material on the history of the freedom movement, events around independence, departure of Lord Mountbatten from India and funeral of Gandhi, the spokesman said.
During this one year the President who was close to the North East during his long political career had flagged off first NE Everest expedition. He also met students from North East separately in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
(With inputs from PTI)