President to arrive in Jammu on April 18

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 16

President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to arrive in Jammu for a two-day visit on April 18 to participate in the convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Kakryal, in Katra. This will be his second visit to Jammu and Kashmir since he took his oath of office on July 25 last year.

The President is also scheduled to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine on April 19.

During his earlier visit, the President had visited the Ladakh region on August 21 last year where he presented the President’s Colours to the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre and the five battalions of the regiment.

Sources said Rashtrapati Bhavan had communicated to Raj Bhawan that the President had accepted the request of Governor NN Vohra, who is also the Chancellor of the university, to be the chief guest at the convocation, which is scheduled to begin at 11 am. This is the sixth convocation of the university.

According to a university official, as many as 882 degrees would be awarded to students who had successfully qualified their courses for the year 2016 to 2017. These degrees comprise honoris causa to be conferred on Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman, Bharti Enterprises Ltd, and Pawan Munjal, chairman, Hero Moto Corp Ltd. Ten gold medals will be awarded to meritorious.

“The President is scheduled to attend a civic reception at Amar Mahal lawns on April 18 evening and thereafter, he will attend a dinner hosted by the Governor at Raj Bhawan,” a source said, adding, “He will stay at Raj Bhavan itself at night.”

“On April 19, the President will visit the Vaishno Devi shrine and return to Jammu. After having his lunch, the President will fly back to New Delhi,” the source said.

Meanwhile, security agencies have intensified vigil across the city.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh has chaired three meetings to finalise the arrangements and review the traffic plan for the visit. He directed the officers to ensure that that the common man is not subjected to any inconvenience due to the arrangements being made for the VVIP visit.