Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das
AHEAD OF Janmashtami celebrations, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has cleared the Jharkhand government’s proposal to rename a railway station in Garhwa district after Lord Krishna.
According to Home Ministry officials, the Raghubar Das government had proposed that Nagar Untari town and railway station be renamed as Banshidhar Nagar, after Banshidhar Temple, which is dedicated to Krishna, in Garhwa.
“The Jharkhand government wants to develop Nagar Untari as Banshidhar Nagar and model it on the lines of Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh. They have plans to make ‘Banshidhar Nagar’ part of the Lord Krishna religious circuit. They are examining proposals for a tie-up with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) also,” said a senior government official, confirming that the Centre had cleared the proposal.
Under the government’s guidelines for renaming railway stations, villages, towns and cities, all state governments must obtain a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Union Home Ministry.
“We sought reports from the Intelligence Bureau, Geological Survey of India (GSI), Department of Post, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of Railways. There were no adverse reports from any agency, following which an NOC was issued. The state government can rename the railway station as Banshidhar Nagar. A notification will be issued by Jharkhand’s Public Works Department, informing the Department of Post and GSI, so that the public do not face any inconvenience,” said a Home Ministry official.
The ministry had earlier approved the renaming of Robertsgang railway station in Uttar Pradesh as Sonbhadra, and Mughalsarai junction, also in Uttar Pradesh, after Deen Dayal Upadhyay.