IIM-Kozhikode welcomes Pranab's elevation as Prez

"India desperately needs a President who will start a national conversation on energy, environment and education ... on the relevance of all the three. We want a President who will close the credibility gap between rhetoric and reality about the state of the Indian economy," IIM-Kozhikode Director Debashis Chatterjee said in an open letter to the President.

Noting that India cannot afford to let a President fade away from "such a luminous" life in politics, Chatterjee said he should stand by farmers in distress, help improve school infrastructure where girls can study without worry and put an end to corruption.

"I trust you will reflect on how a land of opportunity for all does not degenerate into the big bazaar for a few opportunists," he said and added, "You will inspire politics of conviction that has been usurped by the politics of convenience."