President Murmu to attend Santhal council meet in north Bengal
The Statesman | 18 February 2026
President Droupadi Murmu will visit West Bengal on 7-8 March to attend the ninth International Santhal Council Conference in Phansidewa. This is her first visit to north Bengal after assuming office.
The two-day conference will be held at the Santoshini High School ground. The President will travel to Bidhannagar in the Phansidewa block, adjacent to the Siliguri area in the Darjeeling district.
According to sources from the President’s House, during the International Santhal Council conference, a programme for planting Sal trees will be initiated, an initiative to address the issue of global warming.
The council organises the annual conference every year with a focus on the preservation of Tribals communities, their culture, language, and economic development, as well as the strategies to be adopted for maintaining these populations. The last conference was held in Assam.
This year, the conference is scheduled to take place in Siliguri on 7-8 March. Members of the council have stated that the event will address various issues concerning the traditions and culture of the Tribal people.
The Phansidewa block is primarily an area inhabited by Tribal people. Even the legislator of that Assembly, Durga Murmu from the BJP, and the representative of the Tribal community, the President of the country, Draupadi Murmu, are from this region.
According to sources from the President’s House, this is why the International Santhal Council’s conference is set to commence under her leadership. The district and sub-divisional administration of Darjeeling and Siliguri has been informed about the President’s visit by the state government.
The sources indicated that members of the Adivasi council are making all arrangements for this event. They have already met senior police and administrative officials, including the SDPO of Nakshalbari in the Darjeeling district, to strengthen security measures for the occasion.
The Tribals community wants a Sal tree to be planted by the President of India as a symbol of coexistence with nature. The event will be attended by prominent personalities such as Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Jual Oram, among others.