Ten facts about President of India, Ram Nath Kovind
• Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th and current president of India. He was sworn in as president on July 25, 2017.
• He served as the governor of the eastern Indian state of Bihar and was also been a member of the Rajya Sabha (equivalent of Jamaican Senate) for 12 years.
• President Kovind was born in a mud hut to a poor rural family that belonged to the erstwhile depressed castes. He is the youngest of five brothers and two sisters.
• As a student, he walked for eight kilometres every day to attend school.
• He married Savita Devi in 1974. They have a son and a daughter.
• President Kovind holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and also a law degree.
• President Kovind passed the Union Public Service Examination to become a civil servant but chose to practise law at the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
• As an advocate, he provided pro-bono aid to the needy, women, and the poor. He has also led many movements for the rights of the weaker sections of the society.
• As a parliamentarian, he has focused on education in rural areas by helping build school infrastructure. He has served on the Board of management of Dr B.R Ambedkar University, Lucknow, and on the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
• He served as the personal assistant to the fourth prime minister of India, Morarji Desai, in the 1970s.
• He has also represented India at the United Nations (UN) and addressed the UN General Assembly in October 2002.