New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government Tuesday renamed a prominent government building after Manohar Parrikar, the late BJP leader who was the defence minister and Goa chief minister.
The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) building was renamed the ‘Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses’, making it the latest to have undergone such a change.
In the past week, three government buildings were renamed after late Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. All three leaders passed away in 2019.
The renaming of IDSA “will align the vision and aspiration of the premier defence institute with the contribution of the former Raksha Mantri and Padma Bhushan awardee”, a statement issued by the government read.
Swaraj, Jaitley honoured before
Last Thursday, two prominent buildings — the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra and the Foreign Service Institute — were renamed after former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, a day before her 68th birth anniversary.
“In a solemn tribute to the invaluable contribution of former External Affairs Minister late Smt. Sushma Swaraj to Indian diplomacy, the cause of the Indian diaspora and the ethos of public service, it has been decided to rename the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi as Sushma Swaraj Bhawan and Foreign Service Institute also in New Delhi, as Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service,” an MEA statement noted.
However, Congress leader and former Union minister Karan Singh criticised the move, saying it wasn’t “advisable”.
“Our Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is known throughout the world as it trains not only our own foreign service officers but also those from among other friendly Asian, African and Western countries,” he said.
He added that if the institute had to be renamed, it should have been after Jawaharlal Nehru, a Congress leader and India’s first prime minister.
Prior to this, on 11 February, the National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) in Faridabad was renamed the Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) after the former Union finance minister.
The institute typically serves the training needs of the government for senior and middle level management in the fields of public policy, financial management, public procurement and other governance issues.
In September last year, the government also renamed Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla cricket ground as the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
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