Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha, has become the first tribal President and second female President of India. She has been an MLA twice, on BJP ticket, from Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj (2000 and 2009). Best Book for Current Affairs & General Knowledge Preparation
At 64 years and 35 days, Murmu has become the youngest and India's first president to be born after Independence.
She was born on 20 June 1958 in Baidaposi village of Mayurbhanj district and belongs to the Santhal community. Murmu started out as a teacher before entering state politics.
The Santhali population is distributed in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Before she became an MLA, Murmu served as councillor in the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat, after winning elections in 1997, and as vice-president of the BJP’s Scheduled Tribes Morcha.
During the BJP-BJD coalition government that came to power in 2000, she held the Commerce and Transport, and, subsequently, the Fisheries and Animal Husbandry portfolios.
In 2007, she was bestowed the Nilakantha Award for Best MLA by the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
In 2015, Murmu was sworn in as the first woman Governor of Jharkhand and the first Odia tribal leader to be made Governor of any state. She was also the first Jharkhand Governor to complete the entire term in the state.
As Governor, she did not pass the BJP government’s bills to amend land tenancy acts in Jharkhand. She had returned the bills that were opposed by Tribals.
In her personal life, Murmu has seen much tragedy, having lost both her husband Shyam Charan Murmu and two sons.
Pratibha Devising Patil, the 12th president of India, is the first woman and the first Maharashtrian to hold this post.
The salary of Indian presidents is ₹5 lakh per month after it was raised from ₹1.5 lakh per month in 2016. Presidents get a pension of ₹1.5 lakh per month after retirement, along with other benefits.
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