BHUBANESWAR: President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to reach Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening and grace the convocation ceremony of the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, on Sunday. The President will stay overnight at the Raj Bhavan after reaching the state capital.
“We have made the arrangements to welcome the President, who will also inaugurate a 200-bed new super-speciality hospital at the Ispat General Hospital on Sunday. As per his itinerary, the President will visit the Jagannath Temple in Puri and the Konark Sun Temple on Monday,” a senior government officer said.
Officers, employees and students, who are likely to come in close proximity of the President, will be made to undergo the RT-PCR test. The commissionerate police, district collectors and the SPs of Puri and Sundargarh have been asked to make foolproof arrangement for the President’s visit. The police, too, conducted a mock rehearsal for the smooth movement of the President’s cavalcade.
The Puri district officials said arrangements are being made to ensure a hassle-free darshan of the deities of the Jagannath Temple for Kovind. “We will allow some select servitors to accompany the President to the temple. As per the procedure, the temple will be off limits to devotees during his stay at the temple,” a district official said.
Kovind and his wife, Savita, had last visited the Jagannath Temple on March 18, 2018. The temple administration had then accused some servitors of misbehaving with the President and the First Lady. However, the President’s office had denied any such misconduct.