Record · Milestones
A chronology, 1958 to the present
Every documented turning point, in sequence, with enough context attached to each to explain why it mattered. Five phases: origins and education; work, family and the classroom; public service and the legislature; Raj Bhavan; and the Presidency.
Phase one
Origins and education
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20 June 1958
Born at Uparbeda, Mayurbhanj
Born into a Santal family in Uparbeda village, in Mayurbhanj district, Odisha. Her father, Biranchi Narayan Tudu, farmed and served as the village headman, as her grandfather had before him.
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1960s
Primary schooling in the village
Educated at the village school in Uparbeda. Female literacy among the Scheduled Tribes of Odisha at this time was in the low single digits.
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1970s
Secondary schooling in Bhubaneswar
Sent to board at a girls’ high school in the state capital, roughly three hundred kilometres from home.
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1970s
Bachelor of Arts, Rama Devi Women’s College
Graduated from Rama Devi Women’s College, Bhubaneswar — the first girl from her village to attend college.
Phase two
Work, family, and the classroom
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1979 – 1983
Junior assistant, Irrigation and Power Department
Four years in the clerical service of the Government of Odisha — the base of the state administrative structure, and the level at which a citizen’s file either moves or does not.
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1980
Marriage to Shyam Charan Murmu
Married Shyam Charan Murmu, a banker. They had two sons and a daughter. He died in 2014.
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1994 – 1997
Honorary teacher at Rairangpur
Taught Hindi, Odia, mathematics and geography at the Sri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Centre, Rairangpur, without drawing a salary.
Phase three
Public service and the legislature
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1997
Elected councillor, Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat
Her first elected office, contesting a seat reserved for women under the Seventy-Fourth Constitutional Amendment. She later served as vice-chairperson of the council, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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2000
Elected MLA for Rairangpur
Elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur with 25,110 votes, three years after her first municipal election.
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6 March 2000
Minister of State, Commerce and Transport
Appointed Minister of State with independent charge for Commerce and Transport in the Government of Odisha, holding the portfolio until 6 August 2002.
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6 August 2002
Minister of State, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development
Took independent charge of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development, holding it until 16 May 2004 — a portfolio touching several million rural households.
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2004
Re-elected from Rairangpur
Returned with 29,295 votes, holding the seat by a margin of forty-two votes — one of the narrowest results of that election.
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2007
Nilkantha Award — Best MLA
Named best member of the House by the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
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2009
Lok Sabha election, Mayurbhanj
Contested the Mayurbhanj parliamentary seat and finished third with 150,827 votes. She was not elected.
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2009 – 2015
A period of personal loss
Within these years she lost both her sons, her husband, her mother and her brother. She has spoken of the period rarely, and has never made political use of it.
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2013 – 2015
Organisational responsibility
Served on the national executive of her party’s Scheduled Tribes wing and as a district president, until her appointment as Governor.
Phase four
Raj Bhavan, Jharkhand
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18 May 2015
Sworn in as Governor of Jharkhand
Appointed by the President under Article 155 of the Constitution. She was the first woman Governor of Jharkhand since the state was formed in 2000, and ex officio Chancellor of its state universities.
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May 2017
The Tenancy Act amendments returned
Returned amendments to the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949 to the Jharkhand government for reconsideration, after receiving a very large volume of representations from tribal communities. The amendments did not proceed.
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September 2017
Assent to state legislation
Gave assent to the Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Bill and to state amendments to the land acquisition law — a reminder that the office was exercised case by case rather than as a fixed posture.
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2019
Oath administered to the Chief Minister of Jharkhand
Administered the oath of office to Shri Hemant Soren as Chief Minister following the state election.
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July 2021
End of tenure
Left office after more than six years — the longest tenure of any Governor of Jharkhand, and the first to complete a full five-year term there. She was succeeded by Shri Ramesh Bais.
Phase five
The Presidency
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June 2022
Nominated for the Presidency
Announced as the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance for the office of President of India.
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18 – 21 July 2022
Elected President of India
Polling took place on 18 July and counting on 21 July. She secured 676,803 votes by value — 64.03 per cent of an electoral college with a total value of 1,086,431 — against 380,177 for Shri Yashwant Sinha.
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25 July 2022
Sworn in as the 15th President of India
Took the oath prescribed by Article 60 in the Central Hall of Parliament, administered by the Chief Justice of India, Shri N. V. Ramana. She became the second woman, the first person from a Scheduled Tribe, and the first person born after independence to hold the office.
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14 August 2022
First address to the nation
Delivered her first address to the country on the eve of the seventy-sixth Independence Day.
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September 2022
First journey abroad as Head of State
Represented India at the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London.
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January 2023
Amrit Udyan
The gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan were given the common name Amrit Udyan and opened to the public.
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8 April 2023
Sortie in a Sukhoi-30 MKI
Flew in a Sukhoi-30 MKI from Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam, becoming the third President of India to fly in a fighter aircraft.
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June 2023
First State visits — Suriname and Serbia
The first State visits by an Indian President to either country. She was conferred Suriname’s highest national honour.
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31 March 2024
Bharat Ratna presented to Shri L. K. Advani
Presented India’s highest civilian award at his residence, in the presence of the Vice-President, the Prime Minister and senior ministers.
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9 June 2024
Appointment of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers
Following the 2024 general election, appointed Shri Narendra Modi Prime Minister under Article 75 and administered the oath of office to him and to the Union Council of Ministers.
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27 June 2024
Address to the 18th Lok Sabha
Delivered the Article 87 address to both Houses assembled together at the commencement of the first session after the general election.
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August 2024
Fiji, New Zealand and Timor-Leste
The first visit by an Indian Head of State to Fiji and to Timor-Leste. She addressed the Parliament of Fiji and was conferred the highest civilian honours of both Fiji and Timor-Leste.
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July 2024
Ganatantra Mandap and Ashok Mandap
The Durbar Hall and Ashok Hall at Rashtrapati Bhavan were renamed, the President’s Secretariat noting that the word durbar had lost its relevance in a republic.
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April 2025
Portugal and Slovakia
The first State visits by an Indian President to Portugal in twenty-seven years and to Slovakia in twenty-nine. She received the Key of Honour of the City of Lisbon and an honorary doctorate in Nitra.
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29 October 2025
Sortie in a Rafale
Flew a sortie of approximately thirty minutes from Air Force Station Ambala, becoming the first President of India to fly in two different fighter types.
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November 2025
Angola and Botswana
The first visits by an Indian President to either country. She addressed the National Assembly of each, and the Angola visit coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of Angolan independence.
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January 2026
Republic Day address and the Budget Session
Addressed the nation on 25 January on the eve of the seventy-seventh Republic Day, and addressed the joint sitting of Parliament on 28 January at the commencement of the Budget Session.
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19 – 25 July 2026
Moldova, North Macedonia and Romania
A three-nation State visit to Central and Eastern Europe. She was the first President of India to visit Moldova and North Macedonia, and the first Indian Head of State to visit Romania in more than three decades.
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