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The Narendra Modi-led central government came to power in 2014 and since then, the social schemes have found a new prefix — Pradhan Mantri. This is changing the practice that has been prevalent in India where the ruling party uses names of its famous leaders.
For instance, when UPA, alliance of parties led by Congress, was in power they named social schemes after Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, among others. The names of such schemes has changed as per the convenience of the ruling parties. Even when NDA was in power in 1998, the ruling party named schemes after the leaders they look up to, such as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
However, things changed in 2014 after NDA came back to power. Modi started a trend of first introducing schemes and giving it a generic term 'Pradhan Mantri'. For example, the government renamed schemes such as the maternity benefit scheme which carried the name of 'Indira Gandhi' to Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana (PMMVY).
The trend of renaming of the schemes has arguments from both for and against camps. The ones who are for the practice of using 'Pradhan Mantri', say the next governments can carry forward with the same name of the scheme instead of going through the hassle of changing the name of the scheme.
The supporters also argue that changing the name should be in accordance to the common man and not on the freedom fighters or leaders who have actually not fought hard for the cause to which they are being named for.
The ones against the 'Pradhan Mantri' term point that the naming of the schemes after the freedom fighters or leaders should continue as it takes the effort to reflect the diverse political and social movements of India, which in turn, contributes to the making of modern India. The ones against say that the leaders should not only be limited to the past but should also carry the names of the ones who actually contributed to the cause.
Views aside, the fact remains that the Modi government has set a trend.
This will be Modi's government's last full Budget - the Budget announced under the current ruling party before the next General Assembly Elections take place. And depending on what fate has in store for the NDA in the next elections, the trend will continue at least till 2019.
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