Times of India: Surat: Sunday, July 15, 2018.
Union
minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping Mansukh Mandaviya
has taken up the issue to name the Surat airport after late former Prime
Minister Morarji Desai.
According to
information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activist Rajesh
Modi, Mandaviya, then Rajya Sabha MP, was the first from Gujarat to write
letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 10, 2014, for naming of Surat
airport after late PM Morarji Desai.
The Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO) had forwarded the copy of the proposal to the state
government for comments.
Talking to
TOI, Mandaviya said, “The first thing I did after the BJP-led government under
the leadership of Narendra Modi came to power was to send a letter to the PM
for naming of Surat airport after late PM Morarji Desai. Desai was the first
Gujarati PM and son of the soil from South Gujarat. He has contributed
abundantly for the progress of Surat and South Gujarat region. Thus, the
international airport in Surat should be named after him.”
“The PMO had
sent the letter to the gujarat government for comments, but nothing has been
done. I will now follow-up with the state government,” Mandaviya added.
Two years
ago, the Anavil leaders in South Gujarat had started a campaign to name Surat
airport after former PM Morarji Desai. Anavil community leaders said the demand
to name Surat airport after Morajibhai Desai is an old one. Former PM Desai was
elected to the Lok Sabha for five consecutive terms from Surat seat between
1957 and 1977. This gives further relevance to the demand by Anavil community.
Anavil leader
of South Gujarat Bhikhubhai Desai said, “The entire Anavil samaj is happy that
Mansukh Mandaviyaji has taken up the issue with the central and state
government. We would be highly obliged that the airport is named after late PM
Morarjibhai.”
Anavil Samaj
leader from Surat Darshan Naik told TOI, “We have planned a huge meeting of
Anavils from across South Gujarat in the coming days. More than 5,000 community
members will gather from across South Gujarat region to support the movement.”
Talking to
TOI, RTI activist Rajesh Modi said, “According to central government, there is
no written policy for naming of airports in the country. However, as a general
practice, the requests for naming and renaming of airports are considered based
on the recommendations of state government concerned, supported by a resolution
passed in the state legislative assembly.”
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