The Haryana Government on Thursday renamed Gurgaon, the corporate hub of the State on the outskirts of Delhi, as ‘Gurugram’. The decision was taken by the Manohar lal Khattar-led BJP Government claiming that people of the area have been making a demand in this regard.
An official spokesman said the decision to change the name was taken on the basis of the representations received in several fora that it would be appropriate to rename Gurgaon as ‘Gurugram’.
The Haryana Government also decided to rename Mewat district as Nuh. Mewat, a geographical and cultural unit and not a town, is spread beyond Haryana in the adjoining States of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the spokesman said.
Haryana is a historic land found mention in the Bhagwat Gita and Gurgaon had been a centre of learning. Gurgaon, as per the official website, derived its name from the name of Guru Dronacharya, the master of archery in the Mahabharata who trained the Pandavas. The village was given to him as gurudakshina (fee), and hence it came to be known as Gurugram, which in course of time got distorted to Gurgaon.
Gurgaon over the past decade has turned into a real estate hub. The district is divided into three sub-divisions — Gurgaon north, Gurgaon south and Pataudi — which are further divided into five tehsils, namely, Gurgaon, Sohna, Pataudi, Farukh Nagar, Manesar.
Justifying the decision to change the name of two districts, Haryana’s Cabinet Minister Anil Vij said, “In the past too, Bombay has been renamed Mumbai. Calcutta changed to Kolkata and Bangalore was renamed Bengaluru. People of Haryana demanded the same. This decision reflects the wish of the people.”
The official spokesperson said that Mewat has also been renamed as Nuh as people of the area and the elected representatives had been demanding the change. Mewat, in fact is a geographical and cultural unit and not a town. The headquarters of Mewat district is at Nuh town, he added.
In another name change, Agriculture Department of Haryana would now be known as Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department (Krishi Evam Kisan Kalyan Vibhag).
An official spokesman said that a decision to this effect has been taken on recommendations of the National Commission of Farmers. The proposal to this effect has been approved by the CM, he added.
Meanwhile, the Congress reaction to the decision was mixed with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda welcoming it, his party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, who also hails from Haryana, criticising the decision.