New airports may be named after cities, not netas

New Delhi: The central government is considering a policy to stop naming new airports in the country after famous personalities.

The new policy, that will come up approval before the union cabinet, proposes that new airports should be named after the nearest city, sources said on Saturday.

If implemented, this will end the practice of political parties asking the civil aviation ministry to name airports after their icons.

Most of the airports in the country are named after national or state heroes, and the practice is followed in many other countries.

This comes in the wake of a controversy over the naming of the new Chandigarh international airport over which Haryana's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and Punjab's Badal-led government have locked horns.

While Haryana reportedly wants the airport to be named after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Mangal Sein, Punjab wants it to be named after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

Requests for change of name of airports usually come from various political parties when there is a change of regime in the state.

There was a recent controversy over the Bengaluru airport when Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad suggested it should have been named after Tipu Sultan.

The Oommen Chandy government in Kerala too is keen on naming the Nedumbassery airport in Kochi after the late Congress leader K Karunakaran.

Last year the civil aviation ministry had turned down requests to rename the Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi after Mahatma Gandhi.

The long process of renaming airports starts with a proposal from the state government to the civil aviation ministry, which after Cabinet approval will be notified in the government gazette.

(With agency inputs)