The iconic Rajpath, stretching from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, was renamed Kartavya Path on Wednesday following a formal decision taken at a special meeting of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). “As we complete 75 yrs of Independence, it is only fitting to shed the colonial baggage and move towards India@100 in the #AmritKaal with our own legacy. The renaming of “Rajpath” to “Kartavyapath” is a reminder that the spirit of public service is not “right to rule” but “duty to serve”, MoS Culture Meenakshi Lekhi tweeted after the meeting. The revamped Kartavya Path will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a special event on Thursday evening, in the presence of Union Ministers Hardeep Puri and G Kishan Reddy, during which a granite statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will also be installed under the Grand Canopy at India Gate. Kartavya Path The entire stretch and the area from the Netaji statue under the Grand Canopy to the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be known as Kartavya Path. As per the NDMC resolution, Kartavya Path includes the erstwhile “Rajpath and Central Vista lawns”. Kartavya Path, which will be opened to the public at the end of the official function, will exhibit landscapes, lawns with walkways, added green spaces, refurbished canals, amenity blocks, improved signages and vending kiosks. “New pedestrian underpasses, improved parking spaces, new exhibition panels, and upgraded night lighting are some other features that will enhance the public experience,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Wednesday. “It also includes a number of sustainability features like solid waste management, storm-water management, recycling of used water, rainwater harvesting, water conservation and energy efficient lighting systems, among others,” the statement said. For Republic Day celebrations, foldable seating arrangements will replace the temporary structures that are installed and removed every year, the Ministry of Urban Affairs said in a statement. The revamped and expanded lawns on both sides of the erstwhile Rajpath are part of the larger Central Vista project, where a new triangular Parliament building, along with the Central Secretariat and several other government offices, are being rebuilt. Kingsway to Rajpath Called Kingsway during British rule, the three-km stretch was built as a ceremonial boulevard by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, the architects of New Delhi, more than a hundred years ago. The capital of the Raj moved to New Delhi from Calcutta in 1911, and construction continued for several years thereafter. Lutyens conceptualised the modern imperial city centred around a “ceremonial axis”, which was named Kingsway in honour of the then Emperor of India, George V, who visited Delhi during the Durbar of 1911, where he formally proclaimed the decision to move the capital. The nomenclature followed that of the Kingsway in London, an arterial road built in 1905, which was named in honour of King Edward VII, the father of George V. Following Independence, the road was given its Hindi name, Rajpath, on which the Republic Day parades took place over the decades that followed. During his address from the Red Fort on August 15, Modi had stressed on the abolition of symbols of colonialism. The new name and look of Rajpath, as well as the installation of the 28-foot statue of Netaji under the Grand Canopy under which a statue of George V once stood, are meant to represent that spirit of the proud new India. The new New Delhi The construction of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project began in February 2021, with the new Parliament building and redevelopment of the Central Vista Avenue in the first phase. The aim is to build an iconic avenue that truly befits the New India, the government has said about the Rs 608 crore Central Vista Avenue project. The PMO statement issued on Wednesday said, “It symbolises a shift from erstwhile Rajpath being an icon of power to Kartavya Path being an example of public ownership and empowerment.” The inauguration of the new avenue and the statue of Netaji are “steps.in line with the Prime Minister’s second ‘Panch Pran’ for New India in Amrit Kaal: ‘remove any trace of colonial mindset’,” the statement said. The statue of Bose will be installed in the same place where a hologram statue was unveiled by the PM on Parakram Diwas (January 23) this year. Crafted by Arun Yogiraj, the statue has been carved from a monolithic granite stone and weighs 65 tonnes.
