President Patil on 5-day north-east visit

President Pratibha Patil will arrive in Assam on Sunfay afternoon for a five-day visit to the north-eastern states of Assam and Meghalaya. This is going to be one of the longest presidential visits to the region.

The President will give away the Fakharuddin Ali Ahmed Award to noted film personality Shabana Azmi and journalist Shekhar Gupta at a function to be organized at the Pragjyoti ITA Cultural Complex, Machkhowa in Guwahati on Sunday evening.

Patil is scheduled to give away the Nirmal Gram Awards to gram panchayats from 13 states of the eastern and north-eastern part of the country at a function be held at the National Games Indoor Stadium in the outskirts of Guwahati on Monday.

Official sources informed that President Patil will also address a meeting of self-help groups during her visit to Assam.

She will lay the foundation stone of the Tezpur Medical College to be built by the Assam government in Sonitpur district on October 21 before she addresses the troops of the 4 Corps of the Indian Army at the corps headquarter there.

After spending three days in Assam, the President will proceed to Meghalaya on Wednesday, where she is expected inaugurate the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme at Mawphlang on October 22 and hold a meeting with Padma awardees and women leaders of Meghalaya.

She will inaugurate the newly-built Baljek Airport at Tura in West Garo Hills of Meghalaya on October 23 and grace the centenary celebrations of the Laban Bengali Girls Higher Secondary School in Shillong in the evening. It will be first visit of the President to Tura in the last 56 years.

Former president Rajendra Prasad visited Tura way back in 1952 when the area was part of them undivided Assam.

Meanwhile, a multi-layer security ring was implemented in Assam and Meghalaya in view of the President's visit.

Additional companies of security forces arrived in both the states to add teeth to the security bandobast.