Admn pulls down hoardings renaming Mewat village after Trump

GURUGRAM: The quaint village of Marora which had hit headlines for being “renamed” after Donald Trump by a toilet charity few days ago received a rude shock on Tuesday when the administration pulled down the billboard and portraits of the US President.

A poster with the image of US President Donald Trump set up at Marora village, which was unofficially renamed “Trump Village”. — AFP file photo

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, June 27

The quaint village of Marora which had hit headlines for being “renamed” after Donald Trump by a toilet charity, Sulabh International, few days ago received a rude shock on Tuesday when the administration pulled down the billboard and portraits of the US President.

Questioning the authority of the NGO for changing the name of the village, the local administration repainted the recently-erected signboards which had caught media attention.

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“No NGO or social organisation has the right to rename a village. This name is identity of village in records be it revenue, maps or other government data and it can be renamed only by the government through set procedures. They are free to call it by any name in their promotional campaign but have no authority to erect new signboards,” Mewat DC Mani Ram Sharma said.

The exercise carried out by administration late evening shocked the villagers as well as social activists who were aiming to generate development funds for village through their initiative.

A panchayat member said “many villages were under consideration for being named after the American President and ours was chosen”.

“The panchayat — comprising two villages Nizampur and Chava — was renamed on June 23 and ever since all, including the media and administration, showered attention on us. We had hoped this would help infrastructure development but the administration’s move has disheartened us,” the member said.

The DC, however, added, “We are not against development and support all NGOs and social organisations, but changing a panchayat’s name is neither in their nor mine domain.”

We had asked them to submit permission for the name change and reported adoption of the village by the US authorities, but got no reply. As far as media reports are concerned, we don’t act on them but on the ground situation,” Sharma added.

The villagers have now decided to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the administration’s move when he returns from three-nation tour, including US.

Sulabh International has so far not issued any statement, but a local representative said the move was aimed at promoting the use of toilets in Mewat and the administration’s action will not deter them.