President Murmu likely to visit Odisha's Rourkela on April 21

Bhubaneswar: President Droupadi Murmu is likely to undertake a day-long visit to Odisha's Rourkela and attend several programmes in the steel city, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said on Tuesday.

Oram, a Lok Sabha MP from Sundergarh, which includes Rourkela city, was speaking to reporters after holding a discussion with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at Lok Seva Bhawan here.

"I held a discussion with the CM on three issues, and one of those was the proposed visit of the President on April 21... Nothing (schedule) has been finalised yet," Oram told reporters.

Oram said he also discussed with the chief minister the progress in land acquisition for the expansion of Rourkela Steel Plant and the transfer of land from the plant to the Airports Authority of India for the expansion of Rourkela Airport.

"The progress in both projects is satisfactory," he said.

During the meeting, Oram thanked Majhi for the state cabinet's recent decision to extend reservation benefits in medical, engineering, and other professional education to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and SEBC students.

Recently, the Odisha cabinet enhanced the quota for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students to 22.5 per cent (from 12 per cent), Scheduled Castes (SC) to 16.25 per cent (from 8 per cent), and introduced an 11.25 per cent reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC/OBC) students in professional courses.

"The enhancement of quota will greatly benefit students from marginalised communities in pursuing higher education," he said.

Odisha Chief Secretary Anu Garg and DGP Y B Khurania were present in the meeting.

Majhi, in an X post, said, "Discussed with the Hon'ble Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh MP Shri @jualoram regarding the visit of Hon'ble President Smt. Droupadi Murmu to Rourkela on the 21st and the proposed programmes." "This visit of the Hon'ble President is a matter of pride for Odisha. Our state government is continuing all preparations and cooperation to make this programme a complete success," he added.