President Pranab Mukherjee today received a copy of book ''The First Woman President of India: Reinventing Leadership, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil' at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
"The book is authored by Prof. Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor of the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, on the work and life of Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Former President of India," a statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
The statement quoted Mukherjee as saying that Patil was his immediate predecessor in this august office and that made the occasion all the more special.
"He stated that Smt. Pratibha Patil from the very beginning of her political career has been a champion against evils that have periodically shaken the fabric of Indian society," it said.
The statement said the book attempts to make a critical enquiry into Smt. Pratibha Patil's initiatives towards eliminating social menaces like ragging, female foeticide, female infanticide, child marriages, dowry, alcoholism, etc. from Indian society.
"The President congratulated Prof. Sunaina Singh for brilliantly capturing the essential contours of Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil's legacy. He said that he was sure that the book should, in course of time, become a source of knowledge and inspiration to followers of Indian polity and public life," it said.
The programme was attended by Patil, Meira Kumar, Speaker, Lok Sabha, Krishna Tirath, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Women and Child Development and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Minister of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra, it said.
