New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Wednesday approved a proposal to rename Rajpath as 'Kartavya Path'. Lok Sabha MP and NDMC member Meenakshi Lekhi said the proposal was approved in a special meeting of the NDMC Council. "We have approved the proposal to rename Rajpath as Kartavya Path in the special Council meeting today," Lekhi said.
NDMC Vice Chairman Satish Upadhyay said the proposal was received from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. He said now the entire stretch and the area from the Netaji statue at India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be known as 'Kartavya Path'.
The revamped historic stretch is going to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7 pm on Thursday. The central government believes that changing its name "symbolises a shift from erstwhile Rajpath being an icon of power to Kartavya Path being an example of public ownership and empowerment". The PM will also unveil the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate on the occasion.
"These steps are in line with Prime Minister’s second ‘Panch Pran’ for New India in Amrit Kaal: ‘remove any trace of colonial mindset," read an official statement from the government. The statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which will be unveiled by the Prime Minister, is being installed in the same place where a hologram statue of Netaji was unveiled earlier this year by the PM.
Crafted by Arun Yogiraj, who was the main sculptor, the 28 feet tall statue has been carved from a monolithic granite stone and weighs 65 MT.