Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Bhubaneswar on January 8 to attend the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas being held in Odisha for the first time.
As per the schedule, the Prime Minister will reach Bhubaneswar airport by a special IAF aircraft at 8 pm on January 8 from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. He will spend the night at Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar during his first visit to the state in 2025.
Sources said PM Modi will attend the mega event on January 9 at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar. He is scheduled to leave for the venue at Janata Maidan at 9.45 am to attend the mega event. He will reach the venue at 9.55 am.
The PM will attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention-2025 at 10 am. After staying at the grand inaugural ceremony for around 50 minutes, he will leave for Bhubaneswar airport to return to Delhi at 11.35 am.
His flight is scheduled to depart from Bhubaneswar airport at 11.55 am and reach Delhi airport at 2.20 pm.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated to commemorate the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa on January 9, 1915. The tradition of celebrating the event started in 2003. The first convention was organised on January 9, 2003 to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India.
Since 2015, the NRI event is being held once in every two years to strengthen the engagement of the overseas Indian community with the Government of India and reconnect them with their cultural roots.
The 18th edition of the event is being held in Bhubaneswar from January 8 to 10 with the theme “Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat”.
Odisha Government has released control room numbers and a helpline number for the forthcoming event in Bhubaneswar.
The Commissionerate Police has launched a special police mascot, named HAPFY, and a chatbot for the biennial mega event.
Over 40 platoons of police force will be deployed across the city for the mega convention, while around a 100 Pravasi Mitra (volunteers) will be engaged for traffic management during the event.
