Bhubaneswar April 23: Last-minute preparations are on at the 70-year-old Utkal University to welcome President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the chief guest at the varsity’s convocation on April 25.

The tent has already been erected and final touches are being given to the more visible areas and corners of the varsity. Rehearsals for the convocation ceremony have also commenced.

Vice-chancellor P.K. Sahoo said besides Mukherjee, the dais would be shared by the governor and chancellor of the university S.C. Jamir and chief minister Naveen Patnaik, along with 130 other dignitaries.

The ceremony will be attended by around 3,000 participants which would include 500 guests, 2,000 students and 300 awardees.

The president will reach at 11am and visit the robe room from where he, along with the members of the senate and the academic council adorned with the uttariyas (scarf), will reach the stage. The duration of the convocation will be one hour and 15 minutes.

“We are trying to put in our best. The rehearsals are on. We want to ensure that everything is perfect on the day of the programme,” said Sahoo.

As many as 227 persons will receive PhDs and 97 students will receive their gold medals.

The university authorities have also decided to confer honorary doctorate degrees to three eminent personalities — spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, neuro-surgeon Sanatan Rath and former Orissa High Court judge R.K. Patra during the occasion.

While the President will hand over the honorary doctorate degrees and the gold medals, the remaining degrees will be given by the chancellor.

Odisha crime branch ADG Bijay Kumar Sharma will also receive a gold medal for scoring the highest mark in legal jurisprudence paper of the LL.B exam.

The budget of the programme is Rs 31.55 lakh. People will be permitted to attend the programme only if they have a pass. A varsity official said: “The convocation ground can accommodate around 45,000 people. Keeping security in mind, we have decided that only those carrying passes will be allowed to enter the venue. The seat number will be mentioned in the pass.”

The President is scheduled to visit Puri Jagannath temple after the convocation where special arrangements have been made by the temple administration to make it a trouble-free experience.

Pranab will arrive at the Bhubaneswar airport tomorrow around 7.40pm and spend the night at the Raj Bhavan.

The governor will host a state banquet in his honour.

On Thursday, he will attend the varsity convocation.