New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS): Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu, who completed one year in office on Saturday, described the period as ‘effective engagement with different stakeholders with focus on students and youth, farmers, science and research and culture through extensive visits across the country.
Marking the occasion, the Vice President's secretariat posted five tweets giving a summary of Naidu's outreach during the last one year.
Setting a record for any Vice President, Naidu visited 28 of the 29 States in the country during the period. He was also to visit Sikkim, but his visit had to be cancelled on reaching Bagdogra en route due to bad weather. In yet another record engagement, he visited all the seven north-eastern states during this period, his office said in a 'round up' of the year in office.
Highlighting the focus of his engagements, 60 per cent of the total of 313 major outdoor events of Naidu during the last one year were related to students and youth, farmers, science and research and culture. He has visited 56 Universities and addressed 29 convocations urging the students and youth to look forward to the future with a sense of confidence seizing the emerging opportunities within and outside the country as complete individuals rooted in Indian cultural ethos while at the same time imbibing modern vision.
The Vice President also visited 15 leading centres of science and research in the country for interacting with scientists and researchers and urging them to compete with the best in the world and to aim at focussing their efforts to better the lives of common people by taking the outcomes of the laboratories to the lands and the people.
Through his 60 domestic visits outside Delhi and 313 major outdoor events and daily engagements of over 12, Naidu has reached out to over 450 countrymen everyday during the last one year motivating them towards inspired actions.
On his sole foreign visit, Naidu visited three Latin American countries of Guatemala, Panama and Peru and held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral and multilateral issues with the Presidents and senior ministers of those countries. He was the first high-level dignitary from India to visit Guatemala and Panama. He also met in Delhi 22 visiting foreign leaders including the Presidents of Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Prime Ministers of Nepal, Cambodia and Italy.
As Rajya Sabha Chairman's ‘Moments of the Year', the just-concluded monsoon session has been described as the ‘Hope of the Year', his presiding over full-day proceedings of the House on July 24 as the ‘Moment of Endurance' and the all party meeting a day before the start of the Monsoon session as the ‘Breakthrough moment of the Year'.
‘New Tidings of the Year' include decision on disqualification of three members of Rajya Sabha in three months, quick decision on the impeachment motion for the removal of Chief Justice of India, setting up of a two-member Committee to review Rules of the House. Taking up all the starred questions for oral answers one day and a record 24 'Zero Hour' submissions on another day, making available simultaneous interpretation facility for five more languages making such facility now available in all the 22 scheduled languages were the other highlights of the year under his chairmanship of the House.
Despite persistent disruptions during the Winter session of last year and the Budget session of this year, the Rajya Sabha passed 27 Bills during the three sessions presided over by Naidu during his first year as Chairman of the House.