With queries surrounding the proposed renaming of Ahmedabad to Karnavati, the issue once again gained traction during Ahmedabad’s foundation day.

The matter was brought up in the Gujarat assembly, where Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar of the Dani Limda constituency inquired about the government’s actions towards this change and sought clarification.

The General Administration Department (GAD) clarified that no formal proposal had been submitted to the central government by the state regarding the renaming, dismissing any active considerations at the moment.

In an answer to a supplementary of the question by Parmar, minister Rushikesh Patel said that many villages have another name apart from its original name and people get used to the other name. In a similar way, Ahmedabad is the most commonly used name today.

Patel further clarified that applications submitted directly to the department are not entertained. Instead, they are redirected to the relevant local authorities such as the corporation, municipality, or district panchayat. The process entails resolutions from village, taluka, and district levels before reaching the state department for consideration and ultimately being forwarded to the Home Ministry.  However, despite receiving 12 direct proposals, none about the renaming of Ahmedabad had been received from the standing committee or corporation.

MLA Darshana Waghela of Asarwa also sought clarification on the rules for renaming of villages and cities. 

To that, Patel replied that to change the village and city, substantial reasons should be given to change the name from what people are used to. 

Changing the name of the village or a city is executed on the basis of language or to show respect to a prominent identity, and not to satisfy the sentiments of the local people, added Patel.

The new name should also be distinctive enough in the same and neighbouring states to not create confusion with similar names in the region. 

The state government has to present in detail the reasons for changing the name as well as the reasons for choosing a new name. Village Panchayat's consent resolution, Taluka Panchayat's consent resolution and jilla Panchayat's consent resolution are required, said the minister.

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