Who is The First Woman President of India?

Pratibha Devi Singh Patil is the first woman president of India, who served as the 12th president of India. Droupadi Murmu is the second woman president of India and held the office in 2022. Pratibha Patil served as the twelfth president of India from 2007 to 2012. Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was succeeded by the first woman president of India. Also, she is the 1st Maharashtrian to be President of this country. 

Before becoming the president of India, Pratibha Patil was the Governor of Rajasthan state (2004 to 2007). Also, she got elected as a Member of Parliament in the year 1991.

First Woman President of India

Mrs Patil was born on 19 December 1934 and completed her education in Maharashtra State. After getting chaired as the 12th president of India, she became the first woman commander in chief of the Indian Armed Forces.

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List of Presidents of India From 1950 to 2023

We have mentioned the list of presidents of India from the independence of the country. Check the table below.

Name of Presidents	Starting Date	Ending Date	Profiles
Dr. Rajendra Prasad	26/01/1950	13/05/1962	First President of India.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	13/05/1962	13/05/1967	Second President of India.
Dr.the  Zakir Hussain	13/05/1967	03/05/1969	Third President of India.
Varahagiri Venkata Giri	03/05/1969	20/07/1969	Acting President.
Mohammad Hidayatullah	20/07/1969	24/08/1969	Acting President.
Varahagiri Venkata Giri	24/08/1969	24/08/1974	Fourth President of India.
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	24/08/1974	11/02/1977	Fifth President of India.
Basappa Danappa Jatti	11/02/1977	25/07/1977	Acting President.
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	25/07/1977	25/07/1982	Sixth President of India.
Giani Zail Singh	25/07/1982	25/07/1987	Seventh President of India.
Ramaswamy Venkataraman	25/07/1987	25/07/1992	Eighth President of India.
Shankar Dayal Sharma	25/07/1992	25/07/1997	Ninth President of India.
Kocheril Raman Narayanan	25/07/1997	25/07/2002	Tenth President of India.
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam	25/07/2002	25/07/2007	Eleventh President of India.
Pratibha Patil	25/07/2007	25/07/2012	Twelfth President of India.
Pranab Mukherjee	25/07/2012	25/07/2017	Thirteenth President of India.
Shri Ram Nath Kovind	25/07/2017	25/07/2022	Fourteenth President of India.
Droupadi Murmu	25/07/2022	Working	Fifteenth President of India.

Education of Pratibha Patil

Pratibha Patil, the first woman president of India was born on December 19th, 1934. She did her schooling at RR Vidyalaya, Jalgaon. Additionally, she completed her master’s degree in Political Science and Economics from the Mooljee Jetha College, Jalgaon. She has also obtained an LLB degree from the Government Law College, Mumbai. Although she was an MLA, she continued her education in Law.

Also Read: Here’s How the President is Elected!

Professional Career of the First Woman President of India

Pratibha Patil started her career as a practising lawyer. She worked at the Jalgaon District Court and was involved in several social activities. The social activities were conducted for the upliftment of the poor and marginalized women. For example, setting up hostels for working women in Delhi and Mumbai, opening an engineering college at Jalgaon, launched a Charitable Trust for the empowerment of women, among others.

Political Career of Pratibha Patil

Pratibha Patil’s political career started when she contested her 1st election from Maharashtra State Legislature. The election was contested by the Jalgaon Assembly constituency. After that, she was elected an MLA (4 times) from the Edlabad (Muktai Nagar) constituency till 1985.

Later on, she became an MP in the Rajya Sabha (1985 to 1990). She was then elected an aMP to the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-Amravati constituency).  Throughout her political career, she has not lost a single election.

In 2004, she became the 24th Governor of Rajasthan. The title also made her the 1st woman to hold the office in the voting process for the President of India. She was able to get 2/3rd of the votes and thus became the 1st woman president of India. She is also known as the most merciful president in 30 years since 1981.

Legacy of the First Woman President of India

The various contributions and factors characterise the legacy of Pratibha Patil during her tenure – 

• Advocate of Women’s Empowerment – Pratibha Patil is seen as a strong advocate of Women’s empowerment. Her emphasis on women’s rights, and the importance of equal opportunities with the establishment of the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW).
• Promotion of Education – She championed the “Sarva Siksha Abhiyan” during her tenure. Her aggressive support for free and compulsory education for all. She also believed in global collaboration in the sector of education and exclusively for women she inaugurated the conference “ Women’s Literacy for Inclusive and Sustainable Development” speaks for her legacy.
• Other Social Activities –  During her tenure, she also emphasised various concerns and subjects like Environment, Rural Development, Healthcare, etc. She also addressed many social welfare programmes and initiatives by giving a human touch as a woman president.

Summary

Who was the first woman President and PM of India??

Pratibha Devi Singh Patil is the first woman president of India. She became the 12th president of the country. The Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan administrated the oath of office and secrecy to Mrs Patil.

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