Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, August 7: President Pranab Mukherjee, who had arrived in Orissa on a two-day trip Friday, abruptly cut short his itinerary and rushed back to New Delhi to be with his wife, who was
admitted to a Delhi hospital earlier in the day.
“The President is on his way back from Puri to Bhubaneswar,” said police commissioner RP Sharma. The President was in the holy city for a darshan of Lord Jagannath and his siblings at Srimandir.
Earlier in the day, the President was accorded a red-carpet welcome at the Biju Patnaik International Airport by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Governor SC Jamir, Chief Secretary GC Pati, BJD MPs Prasanna Patsani and Baishnab Parida, and Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena among a host of other dignitaries.
Soon after arriving at the airport at 1.45 pm on a special Indian Air Force plane, the President left for Rameswar in Khurda district on a helicopter to inaugurate the golden jubilee celebrations of Rameswar High School.
The President was scheduled to attend the convocation of National Law University in Cuttack August 8, and later in the day was scheduled to inaugurate a Seminar of Confederation of Indian Bar at KIIT University here before flying back to the national capital.
At the school, Mukherjee stressed that India must reap its demographic dividend by improving the quality of teaching and honing its youth’s latent talents by imparting skill-based training.
“It is really unfortunate that none of the premier institutes from India figure in the top 200 institutions across the world. The country is enriched with young and talented youths. More than 50 per cent of our population has people aged below 30 years,” the President said.
The President said ushering in change at the school level will transform the whole system. “Ours is a country with more than 700 universities, 35,000 colleges, 30 NITs and many premier institutions. But if we want to improve the system, working on school education and reforming the system from this basic level can help achieve our goals,” he said.
The President paid tributes to former chief minister late Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, who hailed from the village. “I enjoyed a good relationship with Patnaik. We were both inducted into the council of ministers under the Indira Gandhi government on the same day. He was one of the few politicians from the country who also contributed to society in the field of literature,” Mukherjee said.
The President planted a sapling on the premises of the school and appreciated the green cover on the school campus.
Governor Jamir accompanied the President on the trip to Rameswar. The golden jubilee ceremony was also attended by school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra, former chairperson of National Commission of Women Jayanti Patnaik and other dignitaries.
