Prez Pranab wants honorifics dropped

The administration of Lalit Narayan Mithila University (LNMU) has had to order fresh prints of invitation cards in the backdrop of aRashtrapati Bhawan communication pertaining to President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Darbhanga to attend its 4th convocation as the chief guest.

The administration of Lalit Narayan Mithila University (LNMU) has had to order fresh prints of invitation cards in the backdrop of a
Rashtrapati Bhawan communication pertaining to President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Darbhanga to attend its 4th convocation as the chief guest.

HT Image

The change was warranted following the liaison officer's communication that the President wanted the decades old honorifics, which are used as a prefix
to the President's name such as 'His excellency' and 'Honourable' should be dropped.

The LNMU administration had already distributed invitation cards for the convocation ceremony, but has asked that fresh ones be issued in keeping
with the directive.

The communication has also insisted that the standard practice of putting a name tag of the President on the dais should also be dispensed with. LNMU registrar Vijay Prasad Singh, while confirming the directives, informed HT that identity plaques of the dignitaries will only bear their official positions respectively.

It will be President of India, chancellor of universities, chief minister, minister and so on only. The communication has also specified the seating order.
The LNMU administration has been instructed to place identical chairs for all the dignitaries, including the President.

The registrar said the changes were being monitored by the district magistrate.