President Droupadi Murmu flagged the interests of women and youth as matters of importance, and said she would strive to work for them during her term in office.
Droupadi Murmu was sworn in as the 15th president of India Monday morning in a brief but solemn ceremony at the Parliament in Delhi, with chief justice NV Ramana administering the oath of office and senior political figures from across party lines in attendance. Addressing parliament as India’s new president, Murmu said: “My election proves poor Indians can not just dream but also fulfil aspirations’. President Murmu also said that it is a source of satisfaction for her that ‘those who have been deprived for centuries, who have been away from the benefits of development… are seeing their reflection in me’.
“Reaching the post of President is not my personal achievement, it is the achievement of every poor (person) in India. My election is proof the poor in India can dream and make them come true. It is the power of our democracy that in that a daughter born in a poor house, a daughter born in a remote tribal area, can reach the highest constitutional post of India.”