Irrelevant names for new districts in Godavari region

Kakinada: Arguably, all is in the name only. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has fulfilled his poll promise of naming Krishna district after Telugu Desam Party founder Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. The new district headquartered in Vijayawada has been named after NTR as per the wish of YS Jagan, the creator of the 13 additional districts in Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, the Godavari region would be split into six new districts from the existing East and West Godavari districts - Kakinada, Rajamahendravaram, Konaseema, Bhimavaram, Eluru, and Alluri Sitharama Raju.

Names of many people, who brought the region out of famine and contributed to the development in various fields, are now in consideration to name the respective districts. In the notification issued to create new districts, the State government did not name any districts in the Godavari

region after any one of these luminaries – Sir Arthur Cotton, Malladi Satyalinga Naicker, Pithapuram Maha Raja, GMC Balayogi and Kandukuri Veeresalingam.

In 1850s, Sir Arthur Cotton built the anicut on river Godavari, beginning a new chapter that put an end to the famine-suffered region. Sir Arthur Cotton is still revered in Godavari region for his contribution. However, none of the districts in the delta is named after him, though he was solely responsible for the food and livelihood of the people. The region shows its affection for the British engineer in the form of statues in every nook and corner of the delta. The irony is that the region does not even have an official day to celebrate Sir Arthur Cotton's birthday.

Sir Arthur Cotton lived on the outskirts of Rajamahendravaram city and his house remains a tourists' attraction. It is distressing that Arthur Cotton has been ignored either for celebration of his birthday or naming the district after him. Many people opined that instead of calling East Godavari district, it may be christened as Sir Arthur Cotton district as a token of gratitude and affection for him.

Malladi Satyalingam Naicker, (1840-1915), fisher folk and ship merchant, had donated thousands of acres of his land for the education of the poor in Kakinada city. The port city was still indebted to him. Except MSN Charities educational institutions, none of the infrastructure facilities has been named after the merchant.

If anything to go by the philanthropy, Pithapuram Maha Raja family name is inscribed in every corner of the East Godavari district, Kakinada city in particular. The contribution of Raja's family is significant. A section of the society has raised the voice to name Kakinada after Pithapuram Maha Raja. However, their voice is still not loud as the political lobby continues to ignore the idea.

GMC Balayogi (1951-2002) was a lawyer, who rose to become the 12th Lok Sabha Speaker from the Konaseema region. He was the son of the soil of Konaseema region, which is now a new district carved out from the East Godavari district.

His political journey brought fame to Konaseema region on the Indian political map.

Social reformer Kandukuri Veeresalingam should not be forgotten in view of his magnificent social service particularly in the matter of widow marriages. Hence, people of East Godavari should acknowledge his services by naming a district as Veresalingam district.

Many people are of the opinion that naming of the new districts has not been appropriately given or even relevant to the district. The state government may well choose to give names in the context of those, who rendered significant service to those areas in the field of education and also social service.

Decades after now, an occasion has come for the Godavari region to exhibit their love and affection by naming these districts after these luminaries.

The State government did not offer any chance to choose the name of any district by any locals and it led to an uproar on naming the new districts.