President Murmu To Offer Prayers At Dwarkadhish Temple, Attend Gujarat Vidyapith Convocation Today

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu, who is on a three-day visit to Gujarat, will perform aarti at the Dwarkadhish temple in Dwarka on Saturday and attend the 71st convocation of Gujarat Vidyapith as the chief guest in Ahmedabad.

On the second day of her visit to Gujarat, she offered prayers at the Somnath Temple and paid floral tributes at the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel near the temple.

In a post on X, the President's Secretariat said, "President Droupadi Murmu performed Darshan and Puja at the Somnath temple in Gujarat. She also paid floral tributes at the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel near the temple."

Later in the day, the President reached Sasan-Gir and enjoyed a lion safari inside the Gir National Park, the only surviving abode of Asiatic lions. She then interacted with members of the Siddi community, a tribal group with African roots, at 'Sinh Sadan' at Sasan-Gir, the headquarters of the national park.

The Siddi community is an Indo-African group, descended from East Africans brought to the subcontinent as slaves, soldiers and sailors, and now recognised as a Scheduled Tribe. In Gujarat, the majority of them are settled in villages close to the national park.

Speaking at the event at Sasan village in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Murmu lauded the Siddi community for preserving their culture and urged them to provide education to their children for their bright future and take advantage of government schemes to achieve progress.

"I am told that about 25 tribal communities reside in Gujarat, and they are 15 per cent of the state's population. I am happy to see that these communities are living their lives in harmony with nature," she said.

"Along with development, conservation of our culture and tradition is also important. Siddi and all other such tribal communities are pure and pious, because they are still untouched by outside glamour," the President added.

President Murmu urged the tribals to move forward with time and adopt new things, saying, "Though we are tribals, you have to move forward with time and adopt new things, such as providing education to children and taking up jobs. I congratulate the government for starting self-help groups for tribal artisans. Once you provide them the knowledge, they adopt it."

She also expressed happiness that through government schemes, tribal communities are getting benefits such as housing, roads, drinking water and the Internet. Murmu said the central government launched the 'Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan' on the 150th birth anniversary of tribal icon and freedom fighter Bhagwan Birsa Munda last year for the development of tribal areas.

"I urge you all to obtain information about welfare schemes meant for you, and also share it with others so that everyone benefits from these schemes. Instead of waiting for the government's help, we must take the initiative and move forward so that we can contribute to the country's development," the President said. (With Agency Inputs)

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