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Paryavaran Bhawan gets Pandit Deendayal’s name
NEW DELHI: Minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla, through a recommendation made to the urban affairs ministry, has got the building that houses her ministry renamedfromParyavaranBhawan
NEW DELHI: Minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla, through a recommendation made to the urban affairs ministry, has got the building that houses her ministry renamedfromParyavaranBhawan to Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan.
The name change was in tune with the birth centenary year of Pandit Deendayal Upadhaya, the leader of the ruling BJP’s predecessor Bharatiya Jana Sangh and one of its mentors, a statement from Heptulla’s office said.
The Muslim intelligentsia and political parties have, however, criticised the decision, saying it would have been appropriate if the building housing the minority affairs ministry had been renamed after a leader from among the six nationally notified communities.
“The building could have been named after freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, what was the problem? This renaming of roads, buildings and institutions is becoming a very political thing under the BJP. We will demand the intervention of the President in this,” said JD(U) leader KC Tyagi, a Rajya Sabha MP.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has called the decision “unfortunate”. “Was there any paucity of minority leaders after whom the building could have been named? Delhi govt renamed Aurangzeb Road as APJ Abdul Kalam Road Union minister VK Singh has demanded that Akbar Road be changed to Maharana KC TYAGI, JD(U) leader It could have been Mother Teresa or Maulana Azad. After all, it is the minority affairs ministry?” said Masoom Moradabadi, an invitee to AIMPLB.
Tyagi said his party wasn’t against recognizing leaders from various ideologies. “There is no problem if you name 10 new buildings after Maharana Pratap Singh. But preserve India’s heritage. To the BJP, even the most secular Mughal king, Akbar, isn’t Pratap Road The BJP government has renamed a raft of central schemes Most notably, it has dropped Jawaharlal Nehru from the name of a flagship urban development scheme. tolerable.” Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu, in a letter to Heptulla, said his ministry has directed the central public works department to rename the building immediately.
The ministry of environment and forests, which was previously housed in the Paryavaran Bhawan in CGO complex, now has its separate building called Indira Paryavaran Bhawan located in Jor Bagh.
