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July 2022 saw the rise of the 15th President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu. The second woman to earn the title to date, she is an inspiration to women everywhere.
Read on to learn more about India's current President.
Personal Life:
Draupadi Murmu was born in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district in the year 1958. This makes her the first president born after Independence. She was born into the Santhal tribe. She is also India's first tribal president. Her father was a Biranchi Narayan Tudu, a farmer. She was married to Shyam Charan Murmu and had three children. She lost her husband in 2014, followed by her two sons within a span of 6 years. Her daughter Itishri Murmu is married to rugby player Ganesh Hembram and works at UCO bank in Odisha.
Education:
She completed her schooling at Unit II high school and graduated in arts from Rama Devi College. Her entire education was in Bhubaneswar.
Early career
Draupadi Murmu initially worked as a primary school teacher. Later she joined the State Irrigation and Power Department as a junior assistant. She held this job from 1979 to 1983. She then worked as a professor at the Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur, till 1997, when she entered politics.
Political Career:
In 1997, Murmu was elected as a BJP councillor in the Rairangpur Notified Area Council. She went on to become an MLA.
Between 2000 and 2004, Draupadi Murmu held different portfolios in the cabinet of the Government of Odisha. This was during the BJP and Biju Janata Dal coalition government. Murmu was the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Commerce and Transportation and Minister of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development.
Murmu received the Nilkanth Award for the best MLA of the year by the Odisha Legislative Assembly in 2007.
On 18 May 2015, she took the oath and was sworn in as the Governor of Jharkhand. She was Jharkhand's first woman governor and held this position till 2021. She boasts the title of the first female tribal leader to become the Governor of any state.
BJP nominated Draupadi Murmu as the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for President of India in June 2022. She earned the title at 64 years old. She defeated Yashwant Sinha, her rival candidate, with 676,803 electoral votes in 21 of the 28 states. As President of India, she has a lot of duties and responsibilities to uphold.
Isn't Hon'ble President Draupadi Murmu truly an inspiration? In a political world where there are a majority of men, she rose to become the president. Her political career was made up of a lot of 'firsts', making her an idol for women in India. Find stories of suchinspiring women on Glow & Lovely Careers (formerly known as Fair & Lovely Career Foundation). If you wish to pursue a political career, take a career guidance test here. You can also opt for various courses to improve your soft skills.