President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday visited his native village, Paraunkh in Kanpur, as a part of his five-day visit to Uttar Pradesh, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
This was the first visit of Mr. Kovind after taking over as President, it said. He visited his ancestral house that has been converted into a community centre for the village, it said.
Addressing a public event, the President said he always derived inspiration from his birthplace to go forward and work for the country.
“The President also remembered many prominent people of his village who have played major role in strengthening the ideals of social unity, religious tolerance, harmony, awareness for education and consciousness of duties in the village environment. He said these values impacted his thinking,” it said.
He said when he was in school, the village had only primary education facility and students had to go out for secondary school.
“He said he had felt at that time that if there had been a secondary school there, even children who did not get an opportunity for education would have been able to pursue higher studies and would not have been deprived of the benefits of education. In those days, it was almost impossible to send girls out of the village to pursue education. He was happy to note that today the children of Paraunkh village are getting education at the Veerangana Jhalkari Bai Inter College.”
He emphasised on the importance of education, saying it opened up new opportunities for development.
On the pandemic, he said it had caused great disruption and the adverse impact was pervasive and tragic.
“Many people have lost their loved ones. To fully eradicate this pandemic, we still need to be extremely cautious. He said Uttar Pradesh, the most populous State, has taken comprehensive and effective steps for investigation, prevention and vaccination to curb the spread.”
He said there had been an increase in awareness of health because of the pandemic and there was a need to highlight importance of personal and public hygiene.
“The President said the vaccination drive is going on all over the country and also in Uttar Pradesh. He said vaccine is like a shield for protection against the coronavirus. Therefore, one should not only get vaccinated oneself but also motivate others for get vaccinated.”
Later, he attended another event at Pukhrayan, where he said he had started his public life.
