The President of India

After reading this news story, it seems like a very good idea to me to invest the President with extra-constitutional functions that no political party will have a problem with.

What would these functions be? We should look to what Mr.Kalam is doing as the President of India to answer that question. Although the President is the executive head of the country, the constitution does not provide him with executive powers. His powers and functions/duties are minimal. Mr. kalam thus uses much of his time to travel across the country, interact with various sections of the population and especially with children. He communicates his message of the importance of science both directly as well as through the media. He himself being an accomplished and respected scientist, he does this very effectively. He is also able to inspire people with his vision for the future of India. And when he travel abroad, he is able to increase the esteem of our country.

To ensure that this continues with future presidents, I think from now on we should be appointing eminent personalities from the fields of science, economics and the arts to the office of the President of India.