President Droupadi Murmu to Visit West Bengal March 6-7, Launch Darjeeling Hill Festival
Droupadi Murmu will visit West Bengal from March 6 to 7, 2026.
President Droupadi Murmu will visit West Bengal from March 6 to 7, 2026, with the two-day itinerary centred on Darjeeling and including the launch of the Darjeeling Hill Festival marking the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram.
On the first day, the President will inaugurate an exhibition titled Roots and Rhythms at Lok Bhavan in Darjeeling, alongside the Hill Festival launch, and will also virtually inaugurate the Platinum Jubilee Flagship Programme on Women's Leadership and Empowerment at IIT Kharagpur, combining an in-person cultural event with a remote educational institution engagement on the same day.
The Vande Mataram anniversary commemoration ties the visit to a significant milestone in India's independence movement history, with the Darjeeling Hill Festival serving as the regional cultural component of the broader 150th anniversary observances taking place at multiple locations nationally.
On the second day, the President will attend the 9th International Santal Conference, organised by the International Santal Council in Darjeeling, an event bringing together representatives connected to the Santal community, one of India's larger Scheduled Tribe communities with a significant presence in West Bengal, Jharkhand, and neighbouring states.
Presidential visits to specific states typically combine ceremonial, cultural, and institutional engagements within a compressed itinerary, and this visit's mix of a heritage anniversary event, a women's empowerment programme launch, and a tribal community conference reflects the range of causes the President's office engages with during state visits.
The IIT Kharagpur programme launch, though conducted virtually rather than through the President's physical presence at the campus, extends the visit's reach beyond Darjeeling to touch West Bengal's broader higher education infrastructure on the same visit.
The visit's schedule was confirmed through the President's Secretariat in coordination with the West Bengal state government's protocol arrangements for the two-day engagement.
