President Kovind completes four years in office

President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday completed four years in office, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said, highlighting that he gave assent to 63 Bills of the Union and state governments, besides lauding frontline Covid warriors for saving countless lives across the country among others initiatives.

Kovind, aged 76, was sworn in as the 14th President of India on 25 July 2017.

''President Ram Nath Kovind completes four years in office today,'' the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a tweet and shared an e-book highlighting activities during his fourth year of presidency.

As "Everyone's President", Kovind visited 13 states and two union territories and met 780 people during these visits, according to the e-book.

As the custodian of the Constitution, the president administered the oath of office and secrecy to the members of the council of ministers and the chief justice of India, and gave assent to 43 Bills of the Union government and 20 Bills of the state governments, it said.

For the At-Home reception on Independence Day at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kovind invited some frontline corona warriors working in Delhi as special guests and lauded their courage and dedication in saving countless lives across the country, the e-book said.

He also celebrated Raksha Bandhan with nurses of the Trained Nurses Association of India, Military Nursing Service, and the President's Estate Clinic, it said.

The president accepted credentials from 23 foreign heads of Mission via video conferencing.

As the supreme commander of the armed forces, he visited the National War Memorial and paid tributes to the martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice to defend the nation, inaugurated the General Thimayya Museum at Madikeri in Kodagu, Karnataka, and witnessed Joint Services Operational demonstrations by the Andaman and Nicobar Command at Swaraj Dweep.

Kovind attended a Governor's Conference on the 'Role of National Education Policy (NEP 2020) in Transforming Higher Education' in virtual mode and presented national awards to teachers via video conferencing.

As many as 34,293 people visited the Mughal Gardens during Rashtrapati Bhavan's Annual Udyanotsav in Feb-March 2021, the e-book said in a chapter titled 'an accessible Rashtrapati Bhavan'.

About 4,817 people visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan between February and April 13, and 7,458 visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum between January 2021 and April 13, 2021, it said.