Baripada: President Droupadi Murmu reached her home district Mayurbhanj on Thursday on a three-day visit to Odisha. The President is visiting Mayurbhanj for the first time after assuming the high office.
The President landed at Badampahar helipad in the tribal-dominated district in an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter amid tight security.
Murmu was given a ceremonial welcome at the Badampahad helipad by Governor Ganeshi Lal, Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu, Odisha Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallick and local MLAs.
After reaching her native place, Murmu walked down the road for about half-a-kilometer and met people, including tribal men, women and children, waiting eagerly on both sides of the road to greet the daughter of the soil.
They waved at her as she travelled to her in-law’s house at Pahadpur village in Rairangpur sub-division, about five kilometer from the helipad. Scores of hoardings and banners were put up in Rairangpur and Pahadpur to welcome her.
At Pahadpur she garlanded her late husband Shyam Charan Murmu’s statue and visited the SLS Memorial School in the area.
The President also laid the foundation stones of a community centre at SLS Memorial School to be built by NABARD and a skill development centre. She spent some time with the school students and villagers and interacted with them at the village.
During her three-day stay in the state, Murmu is slated to attend a number of programmes, including the convocation of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University at Baripada and a visit to Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR).
While tight security arrangements have been made for Murmu’s visit, around 50 platoons of police force have been deployed at different locations. A three-layer security network is in place, said a senior official.
Earlier, the President had arrived at Kalaikunda Airport in West Bengal by a special plane of the Indian Air Force. From there, she boarded a helicopter and landed at Badampahar helipad in Mayurbhanj district
