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entire cross-section of our society. I used this interaction to understand people, their aspirations and challenges. Equally important I could also bring people together for a common national mission.

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    WHAT CAN I GIVE TO THE NATION?
    Vision elevates the nation
    W hat can I give to the nation? Honour and respect among other countries. Putting a smile on the faces of my one billion countrymen and women. This can only be achieved through economic development and education. Education is paramount for achieving dignity. Inculcating the habit of giving will help us draw our countrymen into the mainstream of development.
    The president of India is privileged to address the nationon the eve of Independence Day and Republic Day. He uses the two occasions to apprise the country about the developments that have taken place in the period and the challenges that it faces.
    The address is in English followed by Hindi. However, in a departure, in every address I started to give the greetings at the beginning and a summary of the speech in Hindi.
    My knowledge of Hindi when I became President was very rudimentary. However, I felt this small bit in Hindi at the outset would at least help convey the flavour of the speech to a larger audience.
    There was always a theme to the Republic Day speech. Preparation for the speech normally began well in advance. We would generate a theme, then we would seek information from multiple departments and also try and get the international picture on the subject. We would send a questionnaire to experts. Then we would collate the information. The speech would go into numerous drafts. It was not unusual for there to be ten or more drafts. The R-Day speech in 2004, for instance, had as its theme smiles on a billion faces and went through ten drafts. The focus was on values. On 14 August 2005, the theme was energy independence. The speech went through fifteen drafts. One of the highest number of drafts was, of course, for my speech to the European Parliament on 25 April 2007. This went through thirty-one drafts.
    I gave ten national addresses during my tenure. The subjects of these addresses were of immense importance. They included translating vision to mission. There were also subjects like what should we be remembered for;education for dignity of human life; an action plan for employment generation; energy independence; one billion people: one vision; national awakening; and what can I give to my nation. All these topics originated from the common idea of transforming India into a developed nation. This message had spread to citizens and professionals, leading to debates and action in their own domain. For example, as a part of employment generation, when I talked about plantation of Jatropha curcas in the country, a large number of states took this up as a mission and today lakhs of hectares are devoted to the plant. In addition, our experts in jatropha cultivation have enabled countries in Africa to develop plantations there with the help of our farmers, so that they can use the plant for biofuel production. Jatropha can be grown on wasteland too. Once planted it has a life of fifty years and every year it yields fruit whose seed yields an oil which can be mixed with diesel.
    In the field of education, thoughts on instituting different types of student evaluations, without the threatening environment of a final examination, emerged. The Central Board of Secondary Education has introduced a grade system instead of the absolute marking system to prevent students from getting overanxious about marks, which has led to healthy competition.
    On the issue of energy independence, I had suggested the creation of 55,000 MW of capacity through solar energy power plants to help the nation achieve this goal by 2030. India’s energy scenario needs an integrated look. India is able to meet only 80 per cent of its coal requirements and while power demand is going up by over 5 per cent perannum, coal production increases