DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931-b):
Term of Office: 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007

In the 58^th Republic Day, it was Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who gave the Presidential address to the nation. In his famous Republic Day speech, he addressed it, “What I can give to my Nation?” He has given the message of ‘Courage for You’ after addressing nations march towards its missions and challenges. He had addressed where India stands today in ‘Ambience in the Nation 2007’, and he addressed his great vision for India 2020, ‘Ambience in 2020’. He said, “We expect the people below the poverty line to come to near zero and our literacy must be nearly 100 percent. The Human Development Index of India will be less than 50 against the present 127. Every Indian will have either a good university degree or quality training with globally competitive employable vocational skills. E-governance would be in position for all Government to Government (G2G) and Government to Citizens (G2C) transactions making the governance system transparent with the National ID card in position. Tele-density will reach over 75 percent. All our villages will have reliable, uninterrupted quality electric power supply. The interlinking of rivers and water bodies and use of technology for water collection, water recycling and water management will result in equitable distribution of water for drinking, irrigation, industry, navigation and as natural beauty. There will be no shortage of water in any part of the country nor will there be disasters due to floods, water logging etc. India would have realised energy security and will be working towards energy independence. Good sanitation facilities will be available at homes in every part of India and for all Indians and tourists. We will be using more of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind power, bio-mass, mini and micro hydel and thorium based nuclear reactors, adding less to the pollution.”

Then, he denoted “corporate social responsibility as a tool to reach the unreached in his point of ‘Reaching the Unreached’. He had addressed the points of ‘Feedback of Services’,  ‘Global Human Resources Cadre’,  ‘Entrepreneurship Development’, ‘Role of Home Makers’, ‘Environment’, ‘Youth Participation in the Political System Towards Developed India’, ‘National Security’, ‘Children are Our Wealth’ in his famous ‘What I can give to my Nation?”