NEW DELHI: “What’s in a name?” William Shakespeare famously said. But when it comes to the game of political one-upmanship, naming—or rather re-naming—is everything. In what seems to be a drive to remove
Nehruvian symbols from Indian polity, the NDA government has begun erasing names from the Nehru-Gandhi family that prefixed many national awards.
In the latest move, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is mulling to “rename” its key awards. The ministry offers nearly a dozen green awards, besides many that are offered by regional offices. Of these, four are named after former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Also on the table is a proposal to change the name of the ministry’s South Delhi office from Indira Paryavaran Bhawan to Paryavaran Bhawan.
Discussions are on to rechristen names of these awards, but the MoEF is treading cautiously to avoid any controversy. The ministry plans do away with awards named after famous people and keep them as just national environment awards.
The move comes after the NDA government in April dropped the names of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi from two awards given for propagating Hindi. The two awards have been discontinued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has instead launched two new schemes for those doing outstanding work in promoting the progressive use of the NDA government’s official language, Hindi.
The green ministry gives away Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP), Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra Awards, Rajiv Gandhi Environment Award for Clean Technology and Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award, which were instituted under the Congress regime and recognise contribution of people and organisations in protecting the environment.
The rationale behind changing the names, according to the MoEF, is that green awards should have recognition and respect like other coveted gallantry and Padma awards in the country.
“Discussions are being held on the matter. The idea is that these awards should hold respect and prestige. As of now, if someone says that this person or organisation is the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar awardee, none recognise it, unlike Vir Chakra, Shaurya Chakra, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, where there is respect attached to them. So we would like to have the environment awards at such levels and for that we should do away with names,” said a source in the MoEF.
According to a ministry official, the move should not be seen as politically motivated, but is purely an administrative decision to make the awards more useful. Similar reasoning was given by the MHA when it changed the name of Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Puraskar and Rajiv Gandhi Rashtriya Gyan-Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puraskar, launched more than two decades ago, to Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar and Rajbhasha Gaurav Puraskar.
Efforts are also on to end the delay in conferring these awards to show the government’s seriousness and commitment to protecting the environment. The ministry now also plans to do away with one national award ceremony in the capital. It may hold separate award ceremonies in main cities at regular intervals.
The green awards for the year 2013 and 2014 are yet to be given and the MoEF has invited tenders for preparation of up to 10 Silver Lotus Trophies for Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar. This national award instituted in 1987 carries two cash prizes of Rs 5 lakh each, and under the individual category, three prizes of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh each.
There were also reports that the NDA government is trying to remove Jawaharlal Nehru’s name from JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) scheme, Indira Gandhi’s name from Indira Awas Yojna and Rajiv Gandhi’s name from names of university programmes and schemes, but so far the government has not moved any proposal in this regard.
Lots in a Name
Titles of awards to be changed:
■ Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP)
■ Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra Awards
■ Rajiv Gandhi Environment Award for Clean Technology
■ Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award