Droupadi Murmu on Monday took oath as the 15th President of India to become the first tribal and the second woman to hold the country’s top Constitutional post.
Chief Justice of India NV Ramana administered the oath of office of the President to her in the Central Hall of Parliament.
In her address after taking the oath, President Murmu said, "My election is proof that the poor in India can dream and make them come true."
"For me, even getting primary education was a dream," she said.
The new President said she was taking charge as India celebrates 75 years of independence and the country was " adding new episodes of development in every sphere.
She also pointed out that India's fight against the Covid pandemic has increased its global influence.
President Murmu vowed to focus on the welfare of the poor and marginalised sections of society.
Earlier, outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind and Murmu arrived in parliament in a ceremonial procession ahead of the oath ceremony.
Murmu was escorted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to the Central Hall.
Members of the Council of Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, heads of diplomatic missions, Members of Parliament and principal civil and military officers of the government were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Ahead of the oath ceremony, Murmu visited the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, and paid her respects to the Father of the Nation. She then met outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind and first lady Savita Kovind.
After the oath ceremony, the President left for Rashtrapati Bhavan, where an inter-services guard of honour was given to her in the forecourt. She was given the ceremonial 21-gun salute after the swearing in ceremony.
On July 22, the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu was officially declared as the 15th President of the country after the conclusion of the counting of votes. The 64-year-old defeated opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Born in a Santali tribal family on June 30, 1958, in Uparbeda village coming under Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, she was educated in Bhubaneswar and went on to work first as a junior assistant in the State Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983. She then became a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre at Rairangpur till 1997.
Murmu entered politics in 1997 when she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
She became a member of the council of ministers in the BJP and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha after being elected as an MLA from the Rairangpur constituency in 2000. She was conferred Nilkhantha Award for the best MLA by the Odisha assembly in 2007.
In 2015, Murmu became the first woman governor of Jharkhand. She also became the first woman tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as the governor of a state.
However, during her political journey, she faced several hardships in her personal life which she overcame with great determination. Her husband Shyam Charan Murmu, passed away in 2014. She also lost both of her sons all in a span of just four years.
Murmu devoted her life to serving society, empowering poor, downtrodden and marginalized sections of society. She has rich administrative experience and an outstanding gubernatorial tenure in Jharkhand. Murmu has made a special identity in public life by spreading awareness about education in tribal society and serving the public for a long time as a public representative.
