Bihar: RJD dubs proposal to name colonies after PM Modi, CM Nitish Kumar 'unethical'

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) reacted sharply to the proposal to name residential colonies for the homeless in Bihar after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, by calling it "unethical".

The RJD national vice-president and former Rajya Sabha member, Shivanand Tiwari though lauded the scheme wherein places in Bihar will be named after popular leaders, he called the naming of colonies on PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar "unethical". He stated that the state government should consider naming it after legendary figures of the past like former deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram.

"To name a scheme that uses public funds after a living person, that too the prime minister and the chief minister, would be unethical ('Anaitik')," Shivanand Tiwari said in a statement on Friday, PTI reported. Notably, he was reacting to the reports about the proposed scheme, which BJP leader and Bihar Minister for Revenue and Land Reforms, Ram Surat Rai has claimed to be his brainchild. 

Tiwari, a former Rajya Sabha member suggested Bihar government that places should be named after any public figure from the state who came from an underprivileged background. "It (places) should be named after any luminary from our state with an underprivileged background", said Tiwari.

Besides providing Jagjivan Ram's name, Tiwari suggested other names including former CM Bhola Paswan Shastri, Dalit poet Heera Dom and Dashrath Manjhi.

'No need to seek approval': Minister Ram Surat Rai

On Thursday, Bihar Minister and BJP leader, Ram Surat Rai announced that residential colonies would be developed in various districts on the government lands for homeless families and would be named after PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar. "These colonies will be known as 'Modi Nagar' and 'Nitish Nagar'. The BJP leader also said that he saw "no need for seeking any approval" for the exercise.

Rai also announced that the Bihar government would allot land and build low-cost houses for the homeless under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. He said that he took this decision at his own level during the review of his department's activities. He said that his department would provide the government where the residential colonies for the homeless will be constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.