Now, the presidential estate is open for public visit four days a week compared to three days per week during Pranab Mukherjee’s tenure.
New Delhi: As he completes his first year in office, President Ram Nath Kovind is looking to take Rashtrapati Bhavan to the states, while also ensuring that it becomes more accessible to the general public in Delhi.
He has already made 49 trips out of Delhi — having visited 27 of the 29 states – since he took charge on 25 July last year. Kovind has visited J&K thrice, although a visit to the Kashmir Valley is yet to happen.
The President has been to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashra several times. He has also visited 10 countries.
“The President is of the firm view that India resides in the states and he is more than happy, despite his extremely busy schedule and official commitments in the national capital, to visit states,” said a senior official.
“He wants to take the Rashtrapati Bhavan, minus the building, to the states,” the official added.
Open to public
But opening up the presidential palace, spread over 330 acres in the heart of Delhi, to the general public is also high on his agenda.
While his predecessor — Pranab Mukherjee — decided to allow the public to visit the 340-room complex three days a week, Kovind has made it four days a week.
“The plan is to eventually allow the public to visit six days in a week. The President is very keen that this happens soon,” said a senior Rashtrapati Bhavan functionary.
There is also a plan to digitise all the books and archival material in the Rashtrapati Bhavan library and make it available for free to the general public.
“The Rashtrapati Bhavan library has a good collection. We want to make the resources available to the public, especially scholars and experts who can make use of the same,” said the functionary.
“The process is already on. Once digitised completely, the material can also be downloaded for free,” the official added.
Decisions on mercy pleas
Another important issue on which Kovind is trying to leave his imprint is the manner in which decisions on important issues such as mercy petitions are taken.
According to sources, before deciding to reject the mercy petition of murder convict Jagat Rai, his first since assuming office, President Kovind raised many queries.
Rai was convicted for the murder of six members of a family in Bihar by burning them alive while they were sleeping at home.
“While he (President) has to act on the advice of the central government, a lot of back and forth happened in this mercy petition matter; the President sought many details that were not part of the file sent by the home ministry,” said a senior functionary.
“It was only when he was personally satisfied that the mercy petition should be rejected that he signed. He is very meticulous in these matters,” he added.
Officials in Rashtrapati Bhavan also say that the President has issued directions that presentation of credentials by diplomats should not be kept pending for long.
“In the past, diplomats had to wait weeks before they were given time to present their credentials to the President. However, President Kovind wants no delays,” said the officer.
“In fact, there is this recent incident where a diplomat arrived on a Friday and was given time Monday to meet the President,” the official disclosed.
Asked if Kovind has set a bar for his presidency, the senior functionary replied, “He is very simple but a hard-task master. You won’t hear a lot about what he is doing but he certainly knows how to push everybody.”
“While he hasn’t exactly set a goal for himself – at least he hasn’t shared anything with us, there is no doubt that in his own, understated way, he will do much more than many others,” said the official.