Pratibha Devi Singh Patil is an Indian politician who served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012 as the first woman. He also served as the Governor of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2007. This veteran leader joined the Indian National Congress in 1962 at the age of twenty-seven and started his forty-two-year-long political career.
So far, he is the only claimant in the history of national politics to set a rare precedent of being undefeated in every election of his entire political life. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil was born on 19 December 1934 in a simple family in Nadgaon village (now Nadgaon village in Jalgaon district, Maharashtra) under the Bombay Presidency of subjugated India.
His father Narayan Rao Patil was working as a lawyer (public prosecutor) of the police department. As a child, Pratibha used to listen attentively to the various problems of the clients who came to his father. In his free time, he analyzed the source and solution of the problem in his mind.
- It was at this time that he identified various defects in the Indian social system as the root of various problems in people's personal lives. But this thought of his was invisible to his family. From the family, he learned to get used to living in the ordinary Atpauda. On July 9, 1965, Pratibha Patil got married to Dr. Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat, a Rajput native of Amravati, Maharashtra.
Pratibha Patil and Dr. Shekhawat's two children are Jyoti Rathore and Rajendra Singh. R. of Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. And. Pratibha Patil completed his schooling from R. R. Vidyalaya. After that, he obtained his master's degree in economics and political science from Mulji Jetha College, Jalgaon district under the University of Pune.
He had a keen interest in sports since childhood. While in college, Pratibha Patil participated in table tennis competitions several times and won medals and awards. After graduation, he obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (L.L.B.) from Govt. Law College, Mumbai University. Pratibha Patil started his career as a lawyer in Jalgaon District Court. Apart from his legal career, he was also involved in social service work.
He entered the political arena in 1962 at the age of twenty-seven as a member of the Indian National Congress. That year he won the first election of his life as a candidate for Jalgaon constituency in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. After that, he contested the election as a candidate from Muktai Nagar constituency in Idlabad four times and won each time and remained an MLA till 1985.
- In the same year he became a Member of Parliament of the Rajya Sabha and worked as a Member of Parliament till 1990. He later became a member of the 10th Lok Sabha formed in 1991. At that time he was elected from Amravati constituency. Incidentally, he won all the elections in his life. Pratibha Patil held many important positions in her political career—from 1967 to 1972 she held the charge of Deputy Minister of Public Health and Tourism in the Government of Maharashtra.
- At that time he also held the Ministry of Housing and Parliamentary Affairs of the Government of Maharashtra. Later that year he became a Cabinet Minister in the Social Welfare Department of the Government of Maharashtra and held this position till 1974. Later in 1975, he was appointed Cabinet Minister of Public Health Department along with Social Welfare Department.From 1975 to 1976 he became a Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Culture.
He was also the chairperson of the House Committee of the Lok Sabha. He was associated with many organizations in the vast span of his career. From 1982 to 1985, he was the President of the Water Pollution Control Board, Government of Maharashtra. He was the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee from 1988 to 1990. At the same time, he was the Director of the 'National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks' and the President of the 'National Cooperative Union of India'.
At that time he was one of the proponents of the '20-point programme' of the Maharashtra government. Pratibha Patil represented India at various international events at different times. He represented India at the 'Social Welfare Conference' held in Nairobi and Puerto Rico. In 1995, India attended the 'World Women's Conference' held in Beijing, China and the 'Status of Women' conference in Austria.
Pratibha Patil was associated with child and women welfare activities. She built housing for working women in Mumbai and Delhi. He built schools for the backward children of Amravati district and for the poor children of Vimukta caste. Organized music, swimming and computer training for the poor women of the area.
Built technical college for rural youth in Jalgaon and introduced recruitment of women home guards in Jalgaon district. She played an immense role in the creation of 'Mahila Vikas Mahamandal' under the Maharashtra Government aimed at the advancement of women. He also established the Krishi Vigyan Kendra for training farmers in Amravati.
Pratibha Devisingh Patil, a member of the Indian National Congress before assuming the post of Governor of Rajasthan, has contested from various constituencies in her long forty-two years of political career and has the rare feat of winning every one of them.
Pratibha Patil is remembered forever for being the first woman President of India as well as setting the precedent for being the only woman President till date. On 3 August 2018, the Government of Mexico awarded Pratibha Patil with the "Order of the Aztec Eagle".
It is Mexico's highest civilian honor. He received this honor for playing a special role in strengthening India-Mexico relations during his tenure as President. He is the second Indian to be honored with this honor after former President of India Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. The "Order of the Aztec Eagle" conferment ceremony was held on 1 June 2019 at MCCIA Bhavan, Pune.
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