No proposal to change name of Barddhaman station: Rly

No proposal to change the name of the Barddhaman (BWN) railway station under Eastern Railway was under the ministry's consideration, the railways said on Tuesday, a month after the junior home minister had said the station would be renamed after freedom fighter Batukeshwar Dutt.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai had said the station in West Bengal would be renamed in the honour of Dutt.

He had made the remarks while visiting Dutt's post-Independence home in Patna, where he had settled after being released from imprisonment in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Dutt, who was born in Barddhaman, was tried by the colonial authorities for bombing the National Legislative Assembly in Delhi. Revolutionary Bhagat Singh had also faced trial in the case. While Singh was sentenced to death, Dutt was awarded life imprisonment. Both were members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.

"As per the existing guidelines, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, alone is the competent authority to approve change in the name of a railway station on Indian Railways. It does so on the recommendation of the state government concerned after obtaining no-objection certificates (NOC) from Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Science and Technology, Surveyor General of India and Department of Post.

"No communication has been received from Ministry of Home Affairs requesting no-objection certificate (NOC) for the same," a statement from the ministry said.