Renaming Cuttack Rly Station: ECoR Puts Ball in State Court

CUTTACK:  With the demand for renaming Cuttack railway station as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Railway Station gaining steam, the East Coast Railways has put the onus on the State Government.

Responding to copies of a memorandum submitted to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by city-based organisation Cuttack Mahanagar Parivartan Committee, ECoR has stated that any change in the name of a railway station can only be made on the recommendation of the State Government with concurrence of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

The organisation had requested the President and PM to rename the Cuttack railway station in honour of Netaji who was born in the Millennium City and spent a greater part of his childhood and education here. The historical importance of Cuttack would be enhanced and promoted by renaming the station in his name.

“We, the people of Cuttack, proudly demand that our station be renamed and a statue of Netaji installed on its premises. All passengers travelling through the station will thus know that this city is the birthplace of the greatest son of the country,” secretary Umesh Mitra submitted.

The memorandum had been passed on to the Union Home Ministry and Ministry of Railways by the Rahshtrapati Bhawan asking the authorities to take action in the direction. The ECoR has stated that Gomoh railway station under East Central railway in Jharkhand was renamed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Gomoh railway station in 2009 commemorating his great escape from the British rulers from there. However, the change in Cuttack station will depend on the State Government’s proposal.

The organisation has now called upon Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to recommend to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Railway to make the declaration as soon as possible. The Government has converted Netaji’s ancestral house and birthplace into a National Museum.

Other vital establishments have been named in the honour of national leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru indoor stadium and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics (Sishu Bhawan). It is apt that the railway station be named in honour of Netaji as he was born here, president Gokulananda Pattnaik said.

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