Arrangements in place for 18th PBD event

Bhubaneswar: Preparations are afoot for 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas scheduled to be held in Bhu-baneswar from January 8 to 10. The State government is leaving no stone unturned to make the three-day mega event a success. After reviewing preparations at the programme venue at Janata Maidan here on Sunday, Chief Secre-tary Manoj Ahuja said,“Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is going to be held in Bhubaneswar from January 8-10 this year. President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will attend the event. As many as 3,500 overseas Indians have so far registered to partici-pate in the programme. All the preparations for the event will be completed by tomorrow.”

Ahuja also expressed the hope that the participants will get a wonderful experience. He urged the Bhubaneswar denizens to actively contribute in making the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas a success and welcome the guests from across the globe. Director General of Police Y B Khurania on Sunday took stock of the security arrangements at the pro-gramme venue.

He told mediapersons that the Commissionerate Police has put in adequate security arrangements to avoid any untoward incident. Speaking to mediapersons, Police Commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said the Commissionerate Police has taken up several measures regarding the protection of delegates, anti-terror arrangements, frisk-ing, VIP security, traffic, crowd control and other anti-sabotage activities.

Police have made elaborate arrangements so that those visiting the State to attend the programme will enjoy the programme and return with a pleasant experience. As many as 83 platoons of police force including 40 platoons of police force from outside the State, over 500 officers, 12 companies of Central Armed Police Force, officials of special intelligence and anti-terror agencies of both the Central government and State police will be deployed during the three-day event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be arriving on January 8. President Droupadi Murmu will be joining on January 9. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will held in Bhubaneswar for the first time.