Droupadi Murmu President of India

The Presidency · Speeches and Addresses

The archive of addresses

Addresses to the nation, addresses to Parliament under Article 87, and addresses to foreign legislatures. This page records the occasion, the setting and the substance of each — it does not reproduce or paraphrase text that has not been published.

President Droupadi Murmu delivering an address from a wooden lectern, beside a ceremonial chair bearing the State Emblem of India

The instrument

Why a presidential address is a constitutional act

In the Indian system the presidential address is not merely an occasion for remarks. It is written into the Constitution and, in one case, is formally debated and voted upon by Parliament.

Article 86 gives the President the right to address either House, or both Houses assembled together, and to send messages to either House. Article 87 goes further: it requires the President to address both Houses assembled together at the commencement of the first session after each general election, and at the commencement of the first session of each year, and to inform Parliament of the causes of its summons.

That address sets out the policies and the programme of the Union Government. Both Houses then debate a Motion of Thanks to the President for the Address, and vote on it. Because the government must carry that motion, an Article 87 address is one of the few moments in the year when the executive’s whole programme is placed formally before the legislature for a vote.

Alongside these, the President addresses the country by convention twice a year — on the eve of Republic Day and on the eve of Independence Day. Those addresses are broadcast on Akashvani and Doordarshan, in Hindi and then in English.

President Droupadi Murmu delivering an address to the nation from the library at Rashtrapati Bhavan, with the national flag and a bust of Mahatma Gandhi
An address to the nation, recorded at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Two such addresses are delivered each year by convention.

The Archive

Addresses on record

Filter by category. Each entry gives the date, the occasion, the place and a factual summary of what the address covered. Full texts of presidential addresses are published by the President’s Secretariat.

  • 25 July 2022Central Hall of Parliament, New Delhi

    Address on assuming the office of President

    Occasion. Delivered immediately after taking the oath of office administered by the Chief Justice of India, Shri N. V. Ramana.

    Substance. She spoke of her election as an indication of the reach of Indian democracy, quoted the nineteenth-century Odia poet and Mahima saint Bhima Bhoi, and dedicated the office to the poor. She noted that she was the first President born in independent India.

    As reported: ‘It is the power of India’s democracy that a girl born in a poor tribal home could reach the topmost constitutional post.’

  • 14 August 2022New Delhi

    Address to the Nation on the eve of the 76th Independence Day

    Occasion. Her first address to the country as Head of State, broadcast on the eve of Independence Day.

    Setting. Recorded at Rashtrapati Bhavan and broadcast on Akashvani and Doordarshan in Hindi and English.

  • 14 August 2024New Delhi

    Address to the Nation on the eve of the 78th Independence Day

    Occasion. The annual Independence Day eve address, broadcast nationally.

  • 27 June 2024Parliament House, New Delhi

    Address to the joint sitting of both Houses — 18th Lok Sabha

    Occasion. The Article 87 address at the commencement of the first session of Parliament after the 2024 general election.

    Substance. The address set out the legislative and policy programme of the newly formed Union Government, as an Article 87 address is required to do. Both Houses subsequently debated and voted on the Motion of Thanks.

  • 31 January 2025Parliament House, New Delhi

    Address to Parliament at the commencement of the Budget Session

    Occasion. The Article 87 address opening the first session of the calendar year.

    Substance. The address placed India’s economic and social position in the context of global instability and set out the Union Government’s programme for the year, including its stated goal of a developed India by 2047.

  • 14 August 2025New Delhi

    Address to the Nation on the eve of the 79th Independence Day

    Occasion. The annual Independence Day eve address, broadcast nationally on the evening before 15 August.

  • 25 January 2026New Delhi

    Address to the Nation on the eve of the 77th Republic Day

    Occasion. The annual Republic Day eve address, broadcast at 7 p.m. on the national network of Akashvani and on Doordarshan, in Hindi followed by English.

    Substance. The address reflected on the Constitution’s coming into force on 26 January 1950 and on India’s progress towards its constitutional ideals. It referred to India’s position as the fastest-growing major economy; to the achievements of Indian sportswomen, including the victories in November 2025 at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and the Blind Women’s T20 World Cup; to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and the political empowerment of women; to Vande Mataram; and to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whose birth anniversary had fallen two days earlier.

  • 28 January 2026Parliament House, New Delhi

    Address to Parliament at the commencement of the Budget Session

    Occasion. The Article 87 address opening the Budget Session of 2026, the first session of the calendar year.

  • 6 August 2024Parliament of Fiji, Suva

    Address to the Parliament of Fiji

    Occasion. Delivered during the first visit by an Indian Head of State to Fiji. On the same visit she was made a Companion of the Order of Fiji.

    Context. Fiji has one of the oldest and largest Indian-origin populations in the Pacific, dating from the indenture system of the late nineteenth century.

  • November 2025National Assembly of Angola, Luanda

    Address to the National Assembly of Angola

    Occasion. Delivered during the first visit by an Indian President to Angola, which coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of Angolan independence.

  • November 2025National Assembly of Botswana, Gaborone

    Address to the National Assembly of Botswana

    Occasion. Delivered during the first visit by an Indian President to Botswana.

  • July 2026Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Skopje

    Address to the Assembly of North Macedonia

    Occasion. Delivered during the first visit by a President of India to North Macedonia, as part of a three-nation European programme in July 2026.

  • July 2026Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

    Remarks on receiving an honorary doctorate

    Occasion. On being conferred an honorary doctorate by the Bucharest University of Economic Studies during the State visit to Romania. She used the occasion to call for closer academic cooperation between India and Romania.

A note on this archive. Presidential addresses are published in full, in Hindi and English, by the President’s Secretariat. This page summarises occasion and substance; it does not reconstruct or paraphrase passages that are not on the public record, and no text here is presented as a transcript. The one quotation reproduced above is given as it was reported at the time, and is marked as such. The list records addresses of national or constitutional significance and is not a complete calendar of the President’s remarks.

Recurring themes

What the addresses return to

Across the addresses on record, four subjects recur often enough to be characteristic of this presidency.

01

Constitutional values

The Constitution as a living settlement rather than a founding document; the Republic as something still being built towards its stated ideals.

02

Women in public life

The political, economic and sporting advancement of women, including the reservation of seats for women in legislatures under the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

03

Education and youth

Access to education, particularly for girls and for children from Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste families — the theme she has spoken on most consistently.

04

Nature and community

Environmental responsibility and the relationship between Adivasi communities and the land, a theme she raised in her first address on assuming office.

Continue

Reference Constitutional Role Articles 86 and 87, and the rest of the office. The Record Official Engagements Where and when these addresses were given. Assessment Legacy What this presidency may be remembered for.