Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s name game is likely to be scuppered by the Union home ministry, at least where Metro stations coming up in her state, Uttar Pradesh are concerned.
For, the ministry is busy working out changes to include Metro stations in the existing guidelines for the naming and renaming of roads, streets, villages, towns and railway stations in the country.
The revised guidelines will mean that a state government will have to get the ministry’s nod before it can clear the names of Metro stations coming up in the state.
Thus, Ms Mayawati, with her penchant for renaming places in Uttar Pradesh after dalit icons — she recently renamed Amethi as Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar — may not be able to do so in the case of Metro stations that are coming up in her state.
What has prompted the home ministry to work on a proposal for the naming and renaming of Metro stations across states and UTs is the recent resentment residents of Aya Nagar in the capital expressed over naming their local station as Arjangarh and their consequent protests.
At present, states frame their own guidelines for clearing the names of Metro stations.
Fearing “law and order” problems over the naming and renaming of Metro stations at a time when the Delhi Metro is expanding its operations in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, ministry officials said that the revised guidelines would require state governments to route the naming and renaming of Metro stations through the home ministry.
“Only the intelligence agencies and authorities concerned can say whether there can be a perceived law and order problem with a particular name,” an MHA official said.
Under the existing guidelines, the home ministry seeks comments from intelligence agencies, state governments, railway authorities and post offices before giving a final clearance to a name.
The seriousness of the home ministry can be gauged by the fact that it has asked the Delhi government to adhere to the MHA guidelines following the Aya Nagar episode.
“If public resentment results in clashes and other law and order problems, then the states will turn towards us. It is better to nip the problem in the bud,” the official said.