As President Pranab Mukherjee’s term comes to an end on 24 July, he will be fondly remembered in the Raisina Hill as an able administrator who will be leaving behind a legacy of new initiatives, innovation and inclusiveness. According to Rashtrapati Bhawan officials, Mukherjee will be remembered as a President who “democratised the institution of Presidency”. After assuming charge as President of India, he had done away with the honorific “His Excellency”, the way earlier Presidents were addressed. He also relaxed the protocol and security restrictions on guests invited to Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The President introduced a new “Change of Guard” function every Saturday. This was opened to the public without restrictions and soon developed into a major tourist attraction on the lines of the same facility at the Buckingham Palace in England. The Rashtrapati Bhawan has also been opened to visitors three days a week, with an online booking system, where visitors are given a guided tour around the magnificent 320-acre complex.
In another first, President Mukherjee introduced an internship programme to give an opportunity to young students to know how the Rashtrapati Bhawan functions.
President Mukherjee also revived the use of the Presidential buggy after nearly 20 years of its discontinuation. The limousine has now taken a back seat and the Presidential buggy is being used on ceremonial occasions for the President’s movement, like during the Beating Retreat ceremony at the Rajpath and the annual President’s address to Parliament during the budget session.
Officials at the Rashtrapati Bhawan will also remember President Mukherjee as an able administrator who balanced the legislative and the executive from time to time, yet maintained a good relationship with all political leaders. He is also one of the few Presidents who rejected as many 30 mercy petitions during his tenure, with the latest being on 26 May this year. The mercy petitions of some dreaded terrorists like Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon were also rejected by President Mukherjee.
President Mukherjee has also initiated several innovations during his tenure and one of the major ones was to convert the Rashtrapati Bhawan into a model township under the “Smart Gram” project. Under this project, the President’s estate was converted into a “Humane, Hi-tech, Heritage and Happy Township—4H”. Not only this, the Rashtrapati Bhawan has also adopted five villages—Dhaula, Alipur, Harichandpur and Taj Nagar in Gurgaon district and Rojka Meo in Mewat district of Haryana—under the “Smart Gram” project. The Rashtrapati Bhawan aims to apply and transfer knowledge and expertise to these villages to convert them to “Smart Grams”. This “smart township” model provides for “smart solutions” to challenges in critical domains of energy, water, security, horticulture and waste management through cross departmental collaboration.
During his tenure, the President also inaugurated an interactive, hi-tech and story-telling museum. The museum, built on the erstwhile stables and the garage where ceremonial coaches were parked, was opened in August 2014. It walks one through India’s freedom struggle and its recent history through sound-light-video animations. It has a simulated battlefield with arms mounted on warriors, ceremonial coaches, vintage cars, photographs and memorabilia of the President’s Body Guard, paintings from the 19th century, apart from sketches and gifts received by successive Presidents from national and foreign dignitaries.
President Mukherjee, who is also immensely interested in history, also initiated the restoration of the Rashtrapati Bhawan Library where old and rare books dating from 1795 AD have been brought together in the main library room. An audio visual section has been added to the Rashtrapati Bhawan Library, which has recordings of old speeches of Lord Mountbatten, Rajaji, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr S. Radhakrishnan, etc., and Films Division archival material on important events in the Rashtrapati Bhawan during the early years of Independence.
“Sanskriti” was also initiated at the Pranab Mukherjee Public Library (Rashtrapati Bhawan Library) in the President’s Estate under which classes on yoga, painting, clay modelling, music, story-telling and indoor games are organised regularly for children in the 7-15-year age group. The children are also provided with healthy snacks.
President Mukherjee also restored several important artefacts, antique items and paintings left unused and unattended for decades. These have been placed at important state halls and rooms in the Bhawan.
President Mukherjee’s legacy of restoration of history goes beyond the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhawan. Almost after 18 years, the Rashtrapati Ashiana in Dehradun, earlier known as the Commandant’s Bungalow, was redeveloped and restored. It was inaugurated by Pranab Mukherjee in September last year. It was also after 18 years that the first citizen of India spent a night there.
According to the Rashtrapati Bhawan staff, President Mukherjee will also be remembered for initiating several “in-residence” programmes for teachers, artists, scholars and innovators and for working with innovation and technology throughout his tenure,.
He also introduced several e-initiatives, such as the online registration of visitors at the Rashtrapati Bhawan and issuing e-invitations for functions, among other such measures.