Khaleej Times

25 places get new names in one year

- INTERNATIO­NAL

Shah is a Persian word, it is not from Sanskrit. If they (BJP) are changing the names of cities, they should first start with their own names

Professor Irfan Habib, Historian

new delhi — The Centre has given consent to the renaming of at least 25 towns and villages across India in the past one year and among the pending proposals is one for the state of West Bengal, according to officials. Allahabad and Faizabad are the latest additions to the growing list of places that have been renamed.

Several proposals, including the renaming of West Bengal as ‘Bangla’, are pending with the central government. The process is a long-drawn one with the involvemen­t of multiple central ministries and department­s.

The Union Home Ministry has given consent to the proposals of name change in 25 villages and towns in different parts of the country in last one year, a senior ministry official said. The proposals to change the names of Allahabad to Prayagraj and Faizabad to Ayodhya are yet to be received by the ministry from the Uttar Pradesh government, the official said.

Some of the approved name change proposals are: Rajahmundr­y

as Rajamahend­ravaram in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh; Outer Wheeler as A P J Abdul Kalam Island, situated in Bhadrak district of Odisha; Arikkod as Areekode in Malappuram district of Kerala; Pindari as PanduPinda­ra in Jind district of Haryana; and Samphur as Sanphure in Kiphire district of Nagaland.

Other renaming proposals approved by the ministry include Landgewadi to Narsinhaga­on in Sangali district of Maharashtr­a; Garhi Sampla as Ch. Sir Chhotu Ram Nagar in Rohtak district of Haryana; Khatu Kalan village as Bari Khatu in Nagour district of Rajasthan; Mihgawan Chhakka and Mihgawan Tilia as Mihgawan Sarkar and Mihgawan

Ghat respective­ly in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh and Shukratal Khadar as Sukhtirth Khadar and Shukratal Bangar as Sukhtirth Bangar in Muzaffarna­gar district in UP.

However, a proposal to change the name of Kacharigao­n to Phevima in Dimapur district of Nagaland was rejected by the home ministry recently, the official said. The home ministry considers such proposals according to the existing guidelines in consultati­ons with agencies concerned, another official said.

The home ministry gives its consent to the change of name of any place after taking no-objections from the Ministry of Railways, Department of Posts and Survey of India. These organisati­ons have to confirm that there is no such town or village in their records with a name similar to the proposed one. The renaming of a state requires amendment of the Constituti­on with a simple majority in Parliament. For changing the name of a village or town, an executive order is needed. —

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