Alma Mater Visit Of President Droupadi Murmu Tomorrow; Honorary Degree For 4 Women Achievers

Bhubaneswar: The area near Rama Devi Women’s University (RDWU) in Odisha capital is all set to accord a grand welcome to President Droupadi Murmu, who will be attending the second convocation of the varsity, also her alma mater, on Friday.

According to sources, 7,430 students will get their degrees during the convocation ceremony and 22 among them will receive gold medals.

Odissi dancer Aruna Mohanty, litterateur Purnamasi Jani from Kandhamal district, Soumya Swaminathan, a former chief scientist at World Health Organisation, and social activist Sunitha Krishnan will be conferred with honorary doctorate degrees on the occasion.

The RDWU, which was upgraded to varsity on May 30, 2015, will also give away PhD degrees for the first time. Sasmita Parida from the computer science department and Priyadarsini Swain from Odia department will be receiving the PhD degrees.

2-DAY ODISHA VISIT

The President will arrive in Bhubaneswar around 11.45 am and attend a function marking the Foundation Day of Jnanaprabha Mission. She is scheduled to attend the RDWU’s second convocation in the afternoon.

President Murmu completed her graduation from Rama Devi Women’s College in 1979. She was conferred with an honorary degree on its first convocation after the college was upgraded to a full-fledged university.

On day two, she will start her day with a visit to Lord Lingaraj Temple and later attend a function in Cuttack to inaugurate the 2nd Indian Rice Congress at National Rice Research Institute.

“Security arrangements will be in place as per Blue Book rules. 40 platoons of police forces will be deployed. SP rank officer will be in charge of security of President Droupadi Murmu’s arcade,” said Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh.

This will be the second visit of Murmu to Odisha after taking charge of the highest office in India in July 2022. On her last visit, the President visited Tapoban High School, Unit-II Government Girls High School and Kuntala Kumari Sabat Adivasi Girls Hostel Unit-II in Bhubaneswar, where she had her schooling, and also Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri.