Nana Shankarsheth Pratishthan reiterates demand that station bear name of philanthropist
Mumbai Central railway station on Thursday. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Against the backdrop of the Lok Sabha elections, the state government has approved a proposal to rename eight railway stations on the suburban line. The renaming of the Mumbai Central station after 19th-century philanthropist Jagannath Shankarsheth has been pending with the Union government for the past four years. An organisation, Nana Shankarsheth Pratishthan, will write to the state and Central government, demanding that the latter approve the new name for the station on April 16, which is celebrated as Indian Rail Transport Day.
On Wednesday, the state cabinet approved the proposal to rename Currey Road station as Lalbaug, Sandhurst Road as Dongri, Marine Lines as Mumbadevi and Charni Road as Girgaon. Cotton Green will be renamed Kalachowki, Dockyard as Mazgaaon and King’s Circle as Tirthankar Parswanath. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) approved the proposal for the renaming of Mumbai Central station in March 2020. The state forwarded this proposal to the Railway Ministry.
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“Our demand is very old and in 2020 the state government has approved the proposal,” said advocate. Manmohan Chonkar, general secretary of Nana Shankarsheth Pratishthan. “Every year we hold demonstrations for the renaming of the Mumbai Central station. As the state government has approved a proposal for the renaming of eight railway stations, we will send a letter to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to follow up with the Union government and the railway authorities to approve the renaming of the station. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the predecessor of the Indian Railways,” said Chonkar.
Rahul Shewale, MP of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction said the proposal to rename the station was approved by the Union home ministry. “The proposal is with the Railway Board. I’m following up with it continuously. It will approve it soon,” he said.
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