Narendra Modi government to drop Jawaharlal Nehru`s name from JNNURM?

Zee Media Bureau/Deepak Nagpal

New Delhi: Amid reports that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is planning to remove the names of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty from several government schemes, there is speculation that the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) may also be renamed and relaunched. As per reports, the NDA government is mulling to drop the name of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru from the scheme and relaunch it with a different name. The central government had recently refused funding for several projects, arguing that JNNURM had ended on March 31 this year. Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu had recently told the Rajya Sabha recently that JNNURM was launched in 2005 by the UPA-1 government and implemented till 2012 in the first phase. The scheme was extended in 2012 by the UPA-2 government till 2014, Naidu added. It may be noted that the Modi government has unveiled its own plan to develop smart cities. On Monday, reports had stated that the new government at the Centre was planning to change the name of Indira Awaas Yojna (IAY), the rural housing scheme, to National Gramin Awaas Mission (GRAM). Government sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make an announcement to this regard in his Independence Day speech on August 15. As per estimates, there are some 600 government schemes named after the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Prior to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had indicated that it may rename the welfare schemes launched by the UPA government and named after the Gandhi-Nehru family. Venkaiah Naidu had attacked the Congress for “glorification of only one family.” “Congress launched 650 schemes in the name of three personalities — Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi — giving an impression that no other leader other than one family did any good for the country,” he had said.