President completes three years, inaugurates AYUSH clinic, clock tower

President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday inaugurated a new AYUSH Wellness Clinic and a restored clock tower in the president's estate to mark the completion of the third year of his presidency.

Speaking at the inauguration of the AYUSH Wellness Clinic, he said that in the three years of his presidency, numerous measures have been taken for the welfare of the residents of the president's estate.

Government programmes such as financial inclusion schemes, concept of a smart city, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan etc. have been implemented in Rashtrapati Bhavan as soon as the government launched them and the Central Public Works Department has further shown that it can implement projects on time and sometimes, even ahead of time, said a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.

The president thanked the government and all the staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan for the support extended to him in undertaking various initiatives in the estate, it said.

Keeping in view the emphasis laid by the government to holistic methods of healing and therapy by Indian systems of medicine and homeopathy, Rashtrapati Bhavan has established the AYUSH Wellness Clinic (AWC), which will cater to the medical needs of the president, officials of the president's secretariat and residents of the president's estate.

The AWC will have treatment facilities in the streams of ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy under one roof with the assistance of the AYUSH ministry.

A dilapidated building in the president's estate has been renovated and converted into the AWC. The work of renovation was started on March 30 and completed on July 24.

The clock tower in Schedule 'B' area of president's estate is a heritage structure built by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1925. Known in the past as Band House and used for residential purposes, its restoration work was done by INTACH while the clock's repair done by IIT, Delhi.

The restoration undertaken includes preservation of original plaster, Kota stone flooring, repair of conical obelisks, cleaning and painting of fire places etc. as per original design, said the statement.