President gave assent to 48 bills of Union Govt, 22 bills of State govts in three years

President Ram Nath Kovind completed three years in office on Saturday with the Rashtrapati Bhavan noting that he guided the country in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. He has given assent to 48 Bills of the Union Government and 22 Bills of the state government including the Citizenship Amendment Act and Jammu and Kashmir State Reorganisation Act among others.

New Delhi:President Ramnath Kovind on Saturday completed three years in office. A look back reveals he has given assent to 48 Bills of the Union Government and 22 Bills of the state governments including the Citizenship Amendment Act and Jammu and Kashmir State Reorganisation Act among others.

As many as 13 Ordinances were also promulgated by the President. During the last three years, President Kovind also appointed 11 Governors of states.

Ever since Covid-19 hit India, President Kovind along with Vice President of India Venkiah Naidu held two video conferences with Governors and LGs of all states and UTs to bolster the efforts at the central and state level to contain and manage Covid-19.

Apart from rationalizing its expenditure for optimal use of resources at Rashtrapati Bhawan, President Kovind donated one month salary to PM-cares fund and has decided to forego 30 per cent of his salary for a year.

Interestingly, on average President Kovind has met 20 persons per day from soldiers to scientists, farmers to fighters during the last three years. As many as 6,991 persons met the President at Rashtrapati Bhawan and during his visit to states.

Officials from Rashtrapati Bhawan said that five groups of Governors also submitted their report on issues like tribal welfare, water, agriculture, higher education and ease of living.

Officials said that the President visited 19 states and 4 union territories in the third year of his presidency.

He did 21 domestic visits during the last three years. He made more than single visits to five states including Maharastra (3), Jharkhand (2), West Bengal (2), Uttar Pradesh (2) and Karnataka (2).

It may be mentioned here that 1,22,292 persons visited Rashtrapati Bhawan since July 25, 2019, and 60,652 persons visited Rashtrapati Bhawan Museum. However, Rashtrapati Bhawan was closed since March 7 as a precautionary measure against the pandemic. Kovind also took green initiatives by banning plastic bottles in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

He also initiated an e-invitation system to send invites for the official functions at Rashtrapati Bhawan including the At-Home reception, state functions and other official programmes. Interestingly, 2019-2020 was also a diplomacy-busy year for President Kovind.

Officials said that Kovind hosted 9 state visit of Presidents and Heads of state between July 2019 and July 2020. He also received 15 global leaders from 5 continents. Ambassador and High Commissioner of 28 countries presented credentials at 6 different credential ceremonies.