Prime Minister Narendra Modi
New Delhi: The Union government has urged states to adhere to the original names of central-sponsored schemes, including 15 schemes that begin with “Pradhan Mantri” or “Prime Minister,” amid ongoing disagreements over their nomenclature.
Bengal and Tamil Nadu are among the states that have expressed discomfort with the names of these schemes, with Bengal even attempting to rename them, leading to tensions with the Centre. The central government has urged that states should not alter the names, as these schemes are jointly implemented by the Union ministries and state governments.
In a written response in the Rajya Sabha on 2 December, Rao Inderjit Singh, the Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, listed several schemes starting with “Pradhan Mantri” or “Prime Minister,” including the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman, PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI), Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan, and others.
Funding for these schemes is shared between the Centre and states, with a ratio of 60:40 in most states, and 90:10 for Northeastern and Himalayan states. The government has also pointed out that states are expected to follow the guidelines of these centrally sponsored schemes, including their nomenclature, and make no changes without approval.
The issue came to the forefront when the Ministry of Rural Development stopped releasing funds to Bengal for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and the PM Awaas Yojana-Grameen for two years, citing irregularities in beneficiary selection and the renaming of the schemes. The Ministry objected to the signboards on PMGSY roads referring to the scheme as the “Bangla Gram Sadak Yojana.”
Former Rajya Sabha member Jawhar Sircar criticised the naming of schemes after the Prime Minister, arguing that it served to rebrand existing projects and appropriated credit, diminishing the contributions of past leaders. He suggested that such practices undermined the legacy of martyred leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.
