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Citizens to get access to Rashtrapati Bhavan resources as President Murmu turns 65
President Droupadi Murmu is making the Rashtrapati Bhavan library, which contains 33,000 books including 2,000 rare works, available online for the public.
A plan to make the Rashtrapati Bhavan library, which is being digitised, open to researchers, even lay people; the celebration of statehood days, hitherto confined to respective state bhavans in the national capital, in the first citizen’s residence; and a possibility of throwing open the sports facilities of the presidential estate to children and professionals — these are just some of the ways in which President Droupadi Murmu, who turns 65 on Tuesday, is bringing Rashtrapati Bhavan closer to people, people familiar with the matter said.
To be sure, Murmu isn’t the first President to do this; both APJ Abdul Kalam and Pranab Mukherjee did their bit too. But the officials said that Murmu, India’s first tribal woman to assume the country’s highest office, is very clear that the Rashtrapati Bhavan (RB) resources will not remain confined to officials and residents of the presidential estate.
The plan to observe statehood days in RB, according to one of the officials cited above, “is aimed to bring the states closer the presidential estate. So far, statehood days would be celebrated only in the respective state bhavans.”
The RB library, which has 33,000 books, including 2,000 rare books, will be made available online for public. The oldest book in it, A Catalogue of the Original Works of William Hogarth, was published in 1795. While the contents of the main library, situated close to the President’s office, can only be accessed online, “the Pranab Mukherjee Library, named after India’s 13th President, will be open to the public. Anyone can come and access resources online and offline. Arrangements are being made for researchers, students and other people,” added the official. This secondary library is also located in the presidential estate.
The library will be opened for the public within the next four months.
Read: How Droupadi Murmu, a tribal girl who dared to dream, became India’s 15th President
Murmu became India’s President on July 25 and has since provided a personal touch to the office she holds. She recently met around 1,500 people of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in RB and told them, “My heart beats for you and when you progress, I will feel my stay in RB has been useful.”
In ceremonies to honour deceased soldiers, Murmu makes it a point to hug their wives or mothers. In her meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, she went beyond the written script to talk heart-to-heart with Hasina, in a rare gesture.
Officials underlined that in Diwali 2022 , Murmu stopped the age-old practice of distribution of gifts only to RB officers. “She ordered that the same gift — 1kg packets of sweets — should be given to everyone in RB, from gardener to drivers to her secretary,” said a second official.
On Tuesday, Murmu is expected to meet women self-help groups, interact with differently abled children of Amar Jyoti charitable trust in the morning and pay a visit to the Jagannath mandir in Hauz Khas. Her office has already prepared “return gifts” for the children.
The decision on throwing open RB’s sports facilities will be made in a few days, the officials added. Hailing from Odisha, a state known for its sports culture, the president is a sports lover. On June 11, when Novak Djokovic won his 23rd grand slam, President Murmu tweeted a congratulatory message even before the Serbian President did so.
