India elects its first tribal President, Draupadi Murmu.

Draupadi Murmu, becomes India’s first tribal, second lady and the 15th President of India.

Draupadi Murmu, is India’s 15th, first tribal and second lady to become the President of India. Murmu was also the first tribal woman to become governor in Jharkhand state. She was also the first tribal woman to become the full-time governor of any Indian state. Draupadi Murmu graduated from Rama Devi Women’s University, Bhubaneswar, with a BA degree. She was also the first female graduate in her village. She belongs to the tribal Santhal community.

She said, “Johar!” after taking the oath and while addressing the Parliament. The word “johar” means “salutation.” It is used in tribal areas.

In her speech she said, “Johar! Namaskar! I humbly greet all the fellow citizens from this sacred Parliament, a symbol of the hopes, aspirations, and rights of all the citizens of India.

Your affection, trust, and support will be my greatest strength in discharging my functions and responsibilities.

From where I come from, even elementary education seems to be a dream. The poor and the backward seem to be my own reflection. I assure the youth and the women of India that their interests will be paramount to me as President of India.

Parliament is a symbol of the hopes and rights of Indians. I express my gratitude to all. Your trust and support are giving me the strength to take on a new responsibility.

As a President who was born in independent India, I will try my best to fulfil the expectations that our freedom fighters placed on Indians.

Becoming the President is not my personal achievement; it is the achievement of all the poor in the country. My nomination is proof that the poor in India can not only dream, but can also fulfil those dreams. “

Coming from a tribal community, she was always very sensitive to the wants of the needy. She is known to be very simple, humble, caring, sharing, serving, and always welcoming and accessible.

Although her father was the village Pradhan (head) of Biranch Uparbeda village, they were very poor. She used to have just one frock to go to school in. She could not even afford a geometry box. In those days, the school used to have a book bank for those students who could not afford to buy books. She studied by borrowing books from this book bank. She later returned all those books she had borrowed, along with the books she already had, so that other children could benefit. They never had a duster to clean the blackboard in the class. She made a duster out of the torn clothes from her household.

She started her political journey as a councillor. Later, she became an MLA and then a Minister. She has served the country as Governor as well, and now she has become the 15th President of India.

Draupadi Murmu is a tribal leader from Rairangpur in the Mayurbhanj district in Odisha. Murmu is a soft-spoken leader who made her way into the politics of Odisha with her sheer hard work.

People close to her say that simplicity is her strength. Draupadi Murmu can be described as a person who combines humility, simplicity, confidence, leadership, serving, and sacrificing attitudes. Her friends expressed that she never demanded or expressed any desire. She used to share her food with her friends, although it was not much. She believed in giving to others rather than taking from them.

Between 2009 and 2015, in the span of 6 years, she lost her husband, two sons, mother and brother. She built a school in the memory of her deceased husband and two sons for the poor children and donated around 3.20 acres of land, which she inherited from her husband’s family. The SLS (Shyam Lakshman Sipun) Residential School imparts education to over 100 poor children and is now run by a trust managed by her daughter, Itishri Murmu.

Know Draupadi Murmu

• Name: Draupadi Murmu [Draupadi Biranchi Tudu] (Born as Puti, which was later changed to Draupadi)
• Born: June 20, 1958
• Birth Place: Uparbeda, Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India
• Age: 64 years
• Parents: Biranchi Narayan Tudu
• Political Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
• Office: President of India
• Education: Graduated (BA) from Ramadevi Women’s University, Bhubaneswar.
• Previous Offices: Governor of Jharkhand, Minister of State for Fisheries and Animal, Minister of State for Commerce and Transport, Member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly
• Children: Three children. Two boys and a girl. Laxman Murmu, Itishri Murmu
• Spouse: Shyam Charan Murmu (passed away in 2014)

Draupadi Murmu, Husband, Personal Life, Education, Family

On June 20, 1958, in Uparbeda village of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, Draupadi Murmu was born into a Santali tribal family to Biranchi Narayan Tudu. Both her father and grandfather were village heads under the Panchayati Raj System.

Draupadi Murmu married Shyam Charan Murmu, a banker who died in 2014. The couple had two sons, both of whom passed away, and a daughter, Itishri Murmu.

Draupadi Murmu’s Teaching Career

From 1979 to 1983, Murmu worked as a junior assistant at the irrigation department of the Government of Odisha. She then worked as an assistant professor at the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Institute, Rairangpur, and taught Hindi, Odia, Maths, and Geography.

Draupadi Murmu’s Political Career

Draupadi Murmu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1997 and was elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. In 2000, she became the Chairperson of Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat and also served as the National Vice-President of the BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha.

During the BJP and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha, Draupadi Murmu served in the following positions.

Draupadi Murmu: The Governor of Jharkhand

On May 18, 2015, Draupadi Murmu took oath as the Governor of Jharkhand and became the first woman Governor of Jharkhand. She was the first female tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as the Governor of the Indian State.

Draupadi Murmu, as the Governor of Jharkhand in 2017, refused to give assent to a bill approved by the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly seeking amendments to the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949.

The bill sought to give the tribals the right to make commercial use of their land while also ensuring that the ownership of land does not change.

Draupadi Murmu: NDA’s Presidential candidate in 2022

In June 2022, Draupadi Murmu was nominated by the BJP as the National Democratic Alliance’s candidate for the President of India for the 2022 election. She visited various states as part of the Presidential Campaign 2022 around the country, seeking support for her candidature from BJP lawmakers and other opposition parties.

Draupadi Murmu visited NE states, BJD of Odisha, JMM Party of Jharkhand, Shiv Sena of Maharashtra, BSP of Uttar Pradesh, JDS of Karnataka and many others were some of the prominent opposition parties that extended their support to her.

Draupadi Murmu becomes the 15th President of India.

On July 25, 2022, Draupadi Murmu took oath as the 15th President of India. Her oath was administered by the Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana, in the Central Hall of Parliament. The outgoing President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, and Draupadi Murmu, arrived in Parliament in a ceremonial procession shortly before the swearing-in commenced.

In her address, the President of India, Draupadi Murmu, thanked MPs and MLAs for electing her as the first tribal President of India. In her first address as the President of the world’s largest democracy, she said, “I am the first President of the country who was born in Independent India.”

“We will have to speed up our efforts to meet the expectations that our freedom fighters had with the citizens of Independent India.”

Draupadi Murmu Awards & Honours

In 2007, Draupadi Murmu received the Nilkantha Award for the Best MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) by the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

Pathalgadi Movement

The Raghubar Das ministry sought revisions to the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act of 1908 and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act of 1949 in 2016-2017. These two original statutes protected the tribes’ land rights. Land sales could only take place between indigenous communities, according to existing rules. The new amendments granted tribals the ability to enable the government to use tribal land for economic purposes and to lease out tribal land. The Jharkhand Legislative Assembly passed the proposed bill altering the existing legislation. In November 2016, the measures were sent to Murmu for approval.

The tribals had vigorously opposed the proposed legislation. Protests were held during the Pathalgadi movement against proposed revisions to the tenancy acts. The protest became violent, and tribals kidnapped the security detail of BJP MP Karia Munda. The police retaliated with a violent crackdown on native settlements, killing a tribal man. Over 200 people have been charged with crimes, including tribal rights campaigner Stan Swamy. During the movement, Murmu was blamed for taking a mild stance on police assaults towards tribal tribes.

According to Aloka Kujur, a woman tribal rights activist, she was expected to speak out in support of the tribals, but instead she pleaded with the Pathalgarhi agitation leaders to have faith in the constitution.

Murmu had received 192 memorandums opposing the bill’s modifications. Then-opposition leader Hemant Soren stated that the BJP government intended to grab tribal land for corporate interests through the two amendment Bills. Opposition groups like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Indian National Congress, and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha have lobbied hard against the law. Murmu relented and refused to give assent to the laws on May 24, 2017, returning them to the state government along with the memorandums she had received. In August 2017, the bill was dropped.

Religion and Land bills

In 2017, she signed the Freedom of Religion Bill, 2017, as well as a bill amending the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. The new religion bill makes coercing or luring someone to convert their religion an offence punishable by three years in prison. The prison term is increased to four years if the person coerced is a member of a scheduled caste or tribe, a minor, or a female. In any scenario, fines may be imposed. The bill also required the voluntary converts to notify the Deputy Commissioner of their conversion and provide complete details about the circumstances.

The Land Acquisition Act, 2013, was amended to adjust the term of compensation and the standards for assessing social implications. The established law requires that monetary compensation for government purchases of tribal land be paid within six months of acquisition. Some types of infrastructure projects no longer require social effect assessments.