BANGALORE: Who’s speaking the truth on renaming of Bangalore? The CM or the Centre? On Aug 20, CM H D Kumaraswamy announced in Gulbarga that Union home ministry had sent him a letter approving renaming 12 cities barring Belgaum. But sources in the Centre claim that the file is still pending with the Union government.
Renaming of cities — an idea conceived in Dec 2005 with Bangalore set to become Bengaluru —- will have to wait for some more time and not happen "within a week” as claimed by the CM on August 20.
"Forget 12 cities getting the nod, the Centre recently sought a clarification from Karnataka government whether it wants to rename railway stations and post offices too. For this, the respective departments have to be consulted. Renaming will take time," sources told The Times of India.
When contacted, Kannada and culture joint secretary C S S Sharma’s terse reply was: "There is such a proposal, but no orders have come."
Besides, the matter needs no ratification from the Karnataka cabinet as stated by Kumaraswamy. "The file was sent to the Centre six months ago and once the clearance comes, the names have to be gazetted and a copy of the notification sent to the Centre," the sources said. Enquiries with the Union home ministry elicited a similar response. Sources said the Centre had laid down guidelines for renaming places: names should not hurt the sentiments of people, have political overtones or be already in use in some other state.
Asked about his assurance, the chief minister said on Thursday that Union home minister Shivraj Patil had committed to him on approving the renaming with a request not to insist on Belgaum.
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