All 5,927 gram panchayats to be named after Mahatma Gandhi by Aug. 15: Khandre
Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B. Khandre on Tuesday said all 5,927 gram panchayats in the State will be renamed as “Mahatma
Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B. Khandre on Tuesday said all 5,927 gram panchayats in the State will be renamed as “Mahatma Gandhi Gram Panchayat” by August 15. Speaking after inaugurating the transfer counselling process for Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs), Secretaries and Accounts Assistants at the Department’s Commissionerate, Mr. Khandre said the move was in line with the announcement made in the State Budget for 2026-27.
He said clear instructions had been issued to complete the renaming exercise before Independence Day. Referring to the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), Mr. Khandre said the scheme was named during the UPA government’s tenure in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, who advocated the concept of Gram Swaraj. However, he alleged that the Centre, through the implementation of the VB-G RAM G scheme from July 1, had dropped Mahatma Gandhi’s name.
In response, the State government had decided to prefix the names of all gram panchayats with that of Mahatma Gandhi, he said. Khandre said he had urged the Centre to name all 2.68
crore gram panchayats in the country after Mahatma Gandhi. The appeal was made at the recent conference of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Ministers of all States, chaired by the Union Rural Development Minister.
The BriefWire