The 65 years of democracy in India has seen the emergence of many powerful political families, but the maximum number of centrally-sponsored schemes and institutions are named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.
Out of the 58 schemes and institutions run by the Central Government, 27 bear the names of the family members of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty. These schemes carry the names of either one of the three former prime ministers of the dynasty — Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
It may surprise many to know that out of these the maximum number are named after Rajiv Gandhi, followed by Indira Gandhi. A total of 16 schemes and institutions are named after Rajiv Gandhi, eight after Indira Gandhi and three after Jawaharlal Nehru, according to the reply to an RTI application filed by a Haryana-based RTI activist, Ramesh Verma.
Only four out of the 58 schemes are running in the name of Mahatma Gandhi. They are Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Gandhi Smriti, Gandhi Shilp Bazaar and Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Yojana.
Four have been named after the Constitution’s chief architect Dr B R Ambedkar, three after Maulana Abul Kalam, senior leader of the Indian Independence movement, and two after former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The four schemes and institutions named after Ambedkar were announced shortly after the Bahajun Samaj Party (BSP) emerged as a political force after 1991.
One scheme or institution each has been named after Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Kasturba Gandhi, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Rabindranath Tagore, Zakir Hussian, Satyajit Ray, Raja Rammohan Roy and Rani Laxmibai.