Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s capital city has been decked up to welcome President Droupadi Murmu, who will begin her two-day visit to her home state Friday.
Huge cut-outs and posters of the President dotted the streets of Bhubaneswar.
Murmu will attend two functions on Friday, besides visiting Lord Lingaraj temple and attending a meeting in Cuttack on Saturday.
Rama Devi Women’s University (RDWU), the alma mater of the President, was also decked up to welcome Murmu, who will attend the institution’s convocation. She completed her BA from the then college in 1979.
As many as 7,430 students will get their degrees, including 22 gold medals, in the convocation.
Honorary doctorates would also be conferred on 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.
Murmu was conferred with an honorary degree in the first convocation after the college was upgraded to a university in 2021.
After reaching Bhubaneswar around 11.45 am on Friday, the President will attend the Foundation Day of Jnanaprabha Mission, followed by the RDWU convocation.
Murmu will start her day with a visit to the Lord Lingaraj temple Saturday and later in the day attend a function in Cuttack to inaugurate the second Indian Rice Congress at National Rice Research Institute.
Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in view of the President’s visit and around 1,500 police personnel have been deployed in the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack region.
This will be Murmu’s second visit to her home state after assuming the highest constitutional position in the country in July last year.
PTI