Paryavaran Bhawan to be renamed Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan

New Delhi: The Paryavaran Bhawan here, which houses the union minority affairs ministry, is being renamed `Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan` by the urban development ministry.

The change is being made on the suggestion of Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla, according to an official statement.

Heptulla had suggested to the urban development ministry in March this year to rename the Paryavaran Bhawan after Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya who had evolved the idea of `Antyodaya`.

"This being Deendayal Upadhyaya`s birth centenary year, it is only appropriate that an important building in the national capital is named after him. The minority affairs ministry is completing a decade of its separate existence as a full-fledged ministry," a statement from the minority affairs ministry said.

The building once used to be the headquarters of environment ministry, which now has its own separate building.

Upadhyaya (1916-1968) was one of the leaders of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).