President To Reach Odisha On March 17 For Two-Day Visit

Bhubaneswar: President of India Dr Ram Nath Kovind will arrive in Odisha on March 17 on a two-day visit.

As per the schedule, the President will arrive at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar in a special flight at 10.45 AM on March 17. Soon after his arrival, he will leave for Cuttack and visit Netaji Museum at 11.55 AM. Later, he will dedicate the Anand Bhawan Museum and Learning Centre at Tulasipur to the people of Odisha between 12.15 AM and 1 PM.

From Anand Bhawan, the President would leave for Mundali on the outskirts of Cuttack city and attend the foundation day ceremony of the National Law University.

From Cuttack, the President will return to the state capital and will have a night halt. He will leave for Puri on the next day for the darshan of Lord Jagannath at 7.30 AM.

Later, he will attend the centenary celebration of Rashtriya Sanskirt Sansthan in Puri at 10 AM.

After having lunch at the Raj Bhawan at 1 PM, Kovind will return to Bhubaneswar and attend the annual convocation of IIT-Bhubaneswar at 3.30 PM.

Later, he will inaugurate the ICT-IOC (Institute of Chemical Technology –Indian Oil Corporation) Bhubaneswar campus and then lay the foundation stone for the Skill Development Institute of Oil PSUs, before returning to Delhi at 5.30 PM.

Taking stock of the visit of the President, a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi was held at the State Secretariat here on Thursday.

Padhi asked the concerned departments to complete their tasks ahead of the visit of the President.

The meeting discussed issues relating to aircraft, guard of honour, security arrangements, accommodation, carcade and transport arrangements, medical and health care for the VVIP, uninterrupted power supply, barricading, construction of dais etc.

The Chief Secretary directed the concerned officials to apprise the Additional Chief Secretary of the status of the job assigned to them for the visit of the President.

The meeting decided to set up a specific control room in the Home Department under the Special Secretary Home (Protocol) for coordination of the entire tour schedule of the President.

It may be mentioned that during his recent visit to New Delhi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had Patnaik met the President and requested him to dedicate the Anand Bhawan Museum and Learning Centre to the people.

The ancestral house of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, Anand Bhawan was handed over to the State Government in 2015 by his two sons— Naveen Patnaik and Prem Patnaik— for converting it into a memorial museum.