First Woman President of India
Smt. Pratibha Patil, the 12th president of India, assumed the office of the President of India on 25 July 2007 and with that she became the first woman to hold the presidential office. She brought with her a rich legislative experience of the Maharashtra State Assembly and of both Houses of the Parliament besides a sound legal knowledge and a keen desire to make difference in the life of the socially downtrodden. Pratibha Patil was also the first Maharashtrian to become President. Before becoming the first woman president of India, Patil served as the governor of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2007, the first woman to hold this office as well.
First Female President of India
With taking charge of presidential office, Mrs Pratibha Patil also became the first woman Commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed forces. In her tenure, She visited border areas many-a-times to have the first hand understanding of the issues and also to motivate the soldiers who are posted in such areas.
The second women in history to become the President of India is Smt. Droupadi Murmu. She i also the first adivasi woman and first person from Odisha to reach the highest level of Administration in the Government.
Articles Related to Prime Minister of India
- Article 74 states that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President.
- Article 75 mentions three things: the President appoints the PM and other ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the PM; Ministers hold their office during the pleasure of the President; Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
- Article 78 states that the Prime Minister communicates all decisions made by the council of members to the President. The President can also refer issues for the consideration of the council of members.
About First Woman President of India
Education:
She was born on December 19 in the year 1934. Smt. Patil did her schooling from RR Vidyalaya, Jalgaon and later obtained her Master’s degree in Political Science and Economics from the Mooljee Jetha College, Jalgaon. Later, she obtained the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Government Law College, Bombay (Mumbai). While in college, she used to be very enthusiastic and had a huge interest in co-curricular activities so she actively took part in various activities related to sports, excelled in table tennis and won several shields at various Inter-collegiate tournaments. Even as an MLA, she pursued her studies as a law student.
Professional Career:
Smt. Patil started her professional career as a practicing lawyer at the Jalgaon District Court and at the same time she associated herself with various social activities, especially, for the upliftment of poor and marginalized women.
Her social works dedicated to improve the social conditions of women in society –
- she had set up hostels for working women in Mumbai and Delhi
- She also opened an Engineering College at Jalgaon for rural youth
- She also opened a Charitable Trust which takes part in multifarious welfare activities for development of women
- She also opened an Industrial Training School for the visually handicapped in Jalgaon
- She also opened schools for poor children of Vimukta Jatis (Nomadic Tribes) and for children of Backward Classes in Amravati District
- She also opened a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farmers’ Training Centre) at Amravati, Maharashtra.
- She also worked hard to in set up the Mahila Vikas Mahamandal, a Maharashtra State Government undertaking for the development of women.
- She also managed to organise music, computer and sewing classes for the poor and needy women at Amravati, Maharashtra.
- Smt. Patil also organized the Women’s Home Guard in Jalgaon District and was their Commandant in 1962.
Political Career:
At the young age of 27 years, she successfully contested her first election to the Maharashtra State Legislature from the Jalgaon Assembly constituency. Subsequently she was continuously elected four times as MLA from the Edlabad (Muktai Nagar) constituency till 1985.
Thereafter, she served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from 1985 to 1990 and later she was elected as a Member of Parliament to the 10th Lok Sabha in the 1991 General Elections from the Amravati constituency. She enjoys the unique distinction of not having lost a single election that she contested till last election of her political career.
In November 2004, she was appointed as the 24th Governor of Rajasthan, and with this title, she also became the first woman to hold that office In the voting process for the President of India, Patil garnered nearly two-thirds of the votes and took office as India’s first woman president on July 25, 2007 Pratibha Patil was dubbed as the most merciful President in 30 years since 1981
List of Presidents of India till 2022
Sl.No | President | From | To |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Rajendra Prasad | 26 January 1950 | 13 May 1962 |
2 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 13 May 1962 | 13 May 1967 |
3 | Zakir Husain | 13 May 1967 | 3 May 1969 |
— | V. V. Giri | 3 May 1969 | 20 July 1969 |
— | Mohammad Hidayatullah | 20 July 1969 | 24 August 1969 |
4 | V. V. Giri | 24 August 1969 | 24 August 1974 |
5 | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed | 24 August 1974 | 11 February 1977 |
— | B. D. Jatti | 11 February 1977 | 25 July 1977 |
6 | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | 25 July 1977 | 25 July 1982 |
7 | Zail Singh | 25 July 1982 | 25 July 1987 |
8 | Ramaswamy Venkataraman | 25 July 1987 | 25 July 1992 |
9 | Shankar Dayal Sharma | 25 July 1992 | 25 July 1997 |
10 | K. R. Narayanan | 25 July 1997 | 25 July 2002 |
11 | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | 25 July 2002 | 25 July 2007 |
12 | Pratibha Patil | 25 July 2007 | 25 July 2012 |
13 | Pranab Mukherjee | 25 July 2012 | 25 July 2017 |
14 | Ram Nath Kovind | 25 July 2017 | 25 July 2022 |
15 | Droupadi Murmu | 25 July 2022 | Present |