Twelve cities get new names

It’s now official. The State’s capital Bangalore has become Bengaluru and Belgaum has become Belagavi. And 10 other cities in the State have also been renamed.

The State government on Friday came out with an official notification shunning the anglicised names of 12 cities. The notification issued by the Revenue department states that the change in the names will come into effect from November 1.

The new names come with a number of questions on how the process of name change will be put into effect and whether it is applicable to private organisations, too. Law Minister T B Jayachandra said all government corporations and institutions will have to switch over to the new names.

For instance, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike will become Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation will become Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation. “Nameplates and stationary mentioning the old names will have to be changed and replaced,” he said. However, the government has not fixed any timeframe for government institutions to switch over to the new names.

 Enquiries made by this paper with various government departments and corporations revealed that they were yet to receive an official communication and had hence not taken a decision on changing the names. The process will take time, sources said.

Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee said the reference to the 12 cities in the government records will change prospectively from November 1. There will be no compulsion on private companies and organisations to change their registered names if there is a reference to any of the 12 cities.

“However, in contextual terms, be it public or private communications, the cities will have to be referred to by their new names. The government is not changing the names in a chauvinistic manner but by adhering to the sentiments of the local people,” said Mukherjee.

On the matters pertaining to changes in the judiciary system, while dispensing orders or using the city names in their communication, the High Court will have to pass separate orders, the officer said. Revenue Department Principal Secretary Basavaraju said the names of the corresponding districts, for instance Tumkur district, will also change accordingly.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah released the copy of the notification on Friday evening in Bangalore, on the eve of Rajyotsava. The notification states that Mysore should be referred to as Mysuru and not Mysure. Official sources said it was due to a typo error that Mysore had been referred as Mysure in the Central gazette and the Department of Science and Technology, the nodal agency for the name change process, had issued a clarificatory order.

Siddaramaiah said Bijapur has been changed to Vijayapura and not Vijapura as sought by some quarters. The changed name was recommended by Kannada Sahitya Parishat.The process of renaming of the cities began in 2006 on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the formation of Karnataka, when the then JD(S)-BJP coalition government announced the shunning of anglicised names of Bangalore, Belgaum and 10 other cities.
 The State sent the list to the Centre for clearance. While the Survey of India, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Defence and Railways gave their nod, the renaming of Belgaum to Belagavi ran into rough weather with the Maharashtra government filing an objection with the Home Ministry.

Subsequent governments did not pursue the issue and the gazette notification from the Centre, required for the official seal of approval for the name change, remained on the back burner. 

Finally, the NDA government gave its approval earlier this month, paving the way for the rechristening.