New Delhi: Droupadi Murmu, aged 64 years, became the youngest president of India on Monday. Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana administered the oath of office to her in the Central Hall of Parliament.
Apart from becoming the youngest president of India, she also became the first tribal and second woman to become the head of the state.
Today, she also become the first President of the country to be born in independent India.
After taking the oath to the country’s highest constitutional office, she said that her elevation to the post is not only her own achievement but that of every poor of the country.
Droupadi Murmu
Born in a Santali tribal family on June 30, 1958, in Uparbeda village coming under Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, she had her education from Bhubaneswar and went on to work first as a junior assistant in the State Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983. After this short stint as a clerk, she became a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre at Rairangpur till 1997.
Murmu commenced her journey in the field of politics in 1997 by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was first elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat and then went on to become the chairperson of the same panchayat in 2000. Later, she also served as the national vice president of the BJP Scheduled Tribe Morcha.
Murmu became a member of the council of ministers in the BJP and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha, first becoming the minister of state with independent charge for commerce and transportation from March 2000 to August 2022 and then minister for fisheries and animal resources development from August 2002 to May 2004. A legislator from Rairangpur assembly constituency in the years 2000 and 2004, 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.
Reports earlier claimed that Murmu was shortlisted for the top position in 2017 as well. She herself acknowledged it when the BJP leadership announced her candidature this time.
However, during her political journey, she faced several lows in her life. Her husband Shyam Charan Murmu, passed away in 2014. She also lost both of her sons all in a span of just 4 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.
President of India
The President of India is the head of state in India. He/She is considered the first citizen of the country, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers. According to article 60 of the constitution, the primary duty of the President of India is to uphold, defend, and preserve the Indian constitution and the law. The president appoints the Chief Justice of India and other judges on the advice of the chief justice.
The President of India is elected by the elected representatives of the parliament and the state legislature. The electoral college elects the President of India and the representation of its members is proportionate. The term of the President of India is of 5 years and no law can be implemented in India without the President’s signature.
Who was the youngest president of India earlier?
Murmu is the 15th president of India. The first president of India was Rajendra Prasad whose term of office began on January 26, 1950, when the constitution of India came into effect.
With 12 years and 107 days, the tenure of Rajendra Prasad was the longest.
Before Murmu, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the youngest president of India. He entered the office at the age of 64 years.
List of presidents of India
Following is the list of presidents of India, their date of birth, and age when they entered the office.
| Name | Date of birth | Date of oath | Age at the time of taking oath |
| Rajendra Prasad | 3 December 1884 | 26 January 1950 | 65 years 1 month 23 days |
| Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 5 September 1888 | 13 May 1962 | 73 years 8 months 8 days |
| Zakir Husain | 8 February 1897 | 13 May 1967 | 70 years 3 months 5 days |
| V. V. Giri | 10 August 1894 | 24 August 1969 | 75 years 14 days |
| Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed | 13 May 1905 | 24 August 1974 | 69 years 3 months 11 days |
| Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | 19 May 1913 | 25 July 1977 | 64 years 2 months 6 days |
| Zail Singh | 5 May 1916 | 25 July 1982 | 66 years 2 months 20 days |
| Ramaswamy Venkataraman | 4 December 1910 | 25 July 1987 | 76 years 7 months 21 days |
| Shankar Dayal Sharma | 19 August 1918 | 25 July 1992 | 73 years 11 months 6 days |
| K. R. Narayanan | 27 October 1920 | 25 July 1997 | 76 years 8 months 29 days |
| A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | 15 October 1931 | 25 July 2002 | 70 years 9 months 10 days |
| Pratibha Patil | 19 December 1934 | 25 July 2007 | 72 years 7 months 6 days |
| Pranab Mukherjee | 11 December 1935 | 25 July 2012 | 76 years 7 months 14 days |
| Ram Nath Kovind | 1 October 1945 | 25 July 2017 | 71 years 9 months 24 days |
| Droupadi Murmu | 20 June 1958 | 25 July 2022 | 64 years 1 month 5 days |
Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed are the two presidents of India who died during their tenure in office.
With inputs from ANI
