Embarrassed over the name of her village ‘Ganda’ (dirty), a class VII student Harpreet Kaur from Haryana’s Fatehabad district wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose office has directed the State Government to look into the matter.
Harpreet Kaur, who lives in village ‘Ganda’ in Ratia Tehsil of Fatehabad district had written a letter to the Prime Minister narrating the ordeal she and the villagers had to go through due to the name of their village.
In her letter written last December, Harpreet wrote about how the villagers are being humiliated and insulted due to the name of their village. “We are ashamed to tell the name of our village to others…” she wrote to Prime Minister saying that she has high hopes from PM and requested him to look into her grievances.
The letter prompted the Prime Minister office to ask the State Government to take appropriate action into the matter.
Following the directions from PMO, the State Government had asked the Fatehabad district administration to do the needful into the issue. The district administration has now begun the process to change the name of the village from ‘Ganda’ to ‘Ajit Nagar’.
‘Ganda’ is a medium size village located in Ratia. The village has a population of around 2,500 people. As per the 2011 census, the village has lower literacy rate compared to Haryana. In 2011, literacy rate of ‘Ganda’ village was 65.20 per cent compared to 75.55 per cent of Haryana.
For more than two decades, the villagers continuously made efforts to get the name of their village changed. It was in the year 1989 that the village Panchayat had requested the district administration to change the name of their village from ‘Ganda’ to ‘Ajit Nagar’.
The district administration had earlier initiated the process to change village’s name in the year 2013 but the process was delayed due to various administrative formalities.
Besides requesting to change the name of her village, Harpreet had also requested to the PM to issue directions for constructing a boundary wall around her Government school and a veterinary hospital in her village.
In her letter, she complained about constant encroachment on school’s land and how miscreants enter their school which cause a lot of difficulty in their studies.
The administration meanwhile has initiated the process to change the name of the village and redress other grievances of Harpreet. A day before, officers concerned also held a meeting with the villagers on these issues.
“The administration has begun the process to change the name of ‘Ganda’ village to ‘Ajit Nagar’. A meeting in this regard has already been held with the villagers. A notification to change the name is likely to be issued in one month’s time,’ said Fatehabad district development and panchayat officer (DDPO) Rajesh Khoth while talking to The Pioneer over phone from Fatehabad.
He said, “The district administration had sent the PMO letter to us earlier this month. The administration is also working to address other issues raised by the girl in her letter to the PM.”