Bhubaneswar: Pahadpur village under Kusumi block in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district is getting a makeover ahead of President Droupadi Murmu’s May 4 to May 6 visit. It is her in-law’s village and since this will be her first visit to Pahadpur after becoming the President, officials and staff of various departments are leaving no stone unturned to make her stay memorable.
The road repair work started on Saturday and so also renovation of her in-law’s house. Administrative officials are supervising works so that there are no lapses during her visit, said an official.
According to sources, the President is expected to land at Badampahar helipad in Mayurbhanj district around 10.15 am on May 4. She will take an IAF helicopter to Odisha after arriving at Kalaikunda Airport in West Bengal in an IAF jet from Delhi in the morning.
She will then be driven to Pahadpur by road. At her village, she will garland the statue of her husband Shyam Charan Murmu, lay the foundation stone of a community centre for SLS Trust and a skill hub. She will then interact with schoolchildren and meet villagers till 12.30 pm.
The President is also scheduled to inaugurate a campaign for Addiction Free Odisha organised by the Brahmakumaris at Hatbadra. She will pay floral tributes to Pandit Raghunath Murmu, the creator of Ol Chiki script of Santali language, and noted tribal leader and former minister Sonaram Soren in the afternoon and spend the night at the inspection bungalow in Rairangpur.
On May 5, she will visit Pandit Raghunath Murmu’s village, Dandbosh and Similipal National Park. She will make a night halt at a guest house in Baripada.
On May 6, she will attend the convocation ceremony of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Baripada, around 10 am and deliver the convocation address. She will leave the campus at 12.15 pm and fly back to Delhi, sources added.
On her maiden visit to her home state in November last year since being sworn in to the high office in July 2022, the President had 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, launched an education portal ‘e-kumbh’ and an Odia textbook for engineering students.
Droupadi had attend the second convocation of Rama Devi Women’s University in the state capital during her two-day visit to the state in February this year. She 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.
She had visited Jagannath temple in Puri on both occasions.
