Raipur, 26 July 2017, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Dr Raman Singh paid courteous tribute to Ex-President of India Late Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, on his second ‘punyatithi’ (death anniversary). Dr Raman Singh said in his message that popularly known as ‘Missile Man’ ‘Bharat Ratna’ Dr Kalam had made it through the toughest circumstances in life and reached the heights of success. He is a role model for new generation. His contribution in development of the country will always be remembered. For years, he served as a great scientist in the field of space science and defence research. He was a serious writer and a thinker. His thoughts and efforts were directed towards giving a new education system to the new generation of India. Chief Minister also remembered the emotional connection of Dr Kalam with Chhattisgarh for years. Dr Singh said- keeping in view his inspiring thoughts regarding education system of the country, Chhattisgarh Government is conducting education quality improvement programme since last two years. Chhattisgarh is the first state of the country to have started ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Education Quality Campaign. Chief Minister commemorated the tours of late Dr Kalam to Chhattisgarh, saying that even before taking charge as President of India, he used to visit Chhattisgarh as the head of DRDO. He was quite impressed with the natural scenic beauty of Bastar region.
It is noteworthy that after taking charge as President, Dr Kalam visited Raipur for the first time as Chief Guest of the convocation ceremony of Pt Ravishankar Shukla University on January 28, 2004. On the same day, he had given an inspiring and memorable speech at Vidhan Sabha here. On June 3, 2004, Dr Kalam had visited Sargipal area of Bastar district. On November 7, 2006 also, he had visited Raipur as Chief Guest of Rajya Alankaran Samaroh. On the same day he had inaugurated Purkhauti Muktangan and attended plantation programme in village Sundarkera. As Ex-President, Dr Kalam had inaugurated the fourth international conference on sickle cell anaemia, held at Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College of Raipur on November 22, 2010. Later, he had attended district-level teachers’ felicitation programme held in Bemetara Headquarters on September 12, 2013.
It is known that Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was born on October 15, 1931 in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu. He served as President of India from July 25,2002 to July 25, 2007. He was delivering lecture to students in Indian Institute of Management (IIM) (Meghalaya), when he passed away on July 27, 2015 due to cardiac arrest.
