Bhubaneswar: The newly appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kasmir, Girish Chandra Murmu, will come to his home State Odisha on November 17. This would be his first visit to the State after assuming the gubernatorial charge.

The first Lt. Governor of union territory of J & K, Murmu will come to his native village Betonati in Mayurbhanj district to meet his octogenarian mother Parbati Murmu.

Girish’s mother was overwhelmed when she was informed about her son’s new assignment. Her immediate reaction was “I am sure he will distinguish himself more by serving the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the country. He has the ability to know good from bad and always does the right thing.”

Born in a remote viallege of Kunchishol, Girish is the eldest among his parents’ six sons and two daughters. His father Bhagabat Murmu, worked as a station manager with the Indian Railways, while his mother retired as a postmaster. Girish’s father died due to heart ailment in 2017.

One of Girish’s brothers is a senior official with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), while another works at a senior position with the Indian Railways. The youngest sibling works with the Odisha government’s rural development department at Baripada. His two other brothers manage a farmhouse at their native village. The two sisters are married and work as schoolteachers.

Girish and his wife, Dr Smita Shukla, have a daughter and a son – Ruchika and Rohan.

An alumni of Vani Vihar, Utkak University, Girish holds an MBA degree from the University of Birmingham.

The 1958-batch IAS officer of Gujurat cadre is in the news for his proximity to prime minister Narendra Modi as well as home minister Amit Shah. Murmu had served simultaneously Modi as chief minister and Shah as Gujarat home minister as their principal secretary. He was expenditure secretary in the finance ministry and was to retire on November 30, 2019.

Girish is the second tribal person in Odisha to rise to a gubernatorial position. Before him, Draupadi Murmu, also from Mayurbhanj and the Santhal primitive tribe, was appointed as the Governor of Jharkhand in May 2015.