Congress Miffed Over Renaming Of Nehru Yuva Kendra

New Delhi: The Congress is miffed over the Centre allegedly targeting the legacy of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru by rebranding the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan as My Bharat and demanded the government should immediately roll back its decision.

The NYKS comes under the Ministry of Sports and Youth Welfare. The scheme was started in 1972 to benefit rural youth and has been running successfully since then. It did not change even after the NDA came to power in 2014 and rebranded several schemes of the previous UPA government, said Congress insiders.

Senior Congress leader and former vice chairman of the NYKS BP Singh said the Centre had deliberately changed the name of the body.

“No matter how much the saffron party tries, removing Nehru’s name from prominent institutions will not erase his towering legacy. This shows that the regime is hell-bent on destroying established institutions to fulfil its political agenda of erasing one of the nation’s founding fathers because inclusive, progressive icons like Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru irk them,” Singh told ETV Bharat.

“The NYKS is recognized across the country for providing community service to lakhs of ordinary citizens and training thousands of youngsters through its program. The government’s attempt at destroying it by creating new, directionless institutions shows their lack of regard for time-tested institutions that have contributed to nation-building for decades. The Centre must withdraw this decision to rebrand the NYKS,” he said.

According to Singh, the government should have thought of some new scheme for the youth instead of rebranding an old institution.

“The NYKS aims to bring rural youth into the national mainstream and give them opportunities. If the NDA government was keen to bring a scheme for the youth they should have tried something new in the name of their leaders. Then nobody would have objected to it. But they don’t have any icons. This is yet another attempt to erase the legacy of the former prime minister. That won’t be possible given the stalwart’s place in the minds of the people,” he said.

According to Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib, the Centre’s move showed its desperation.

“My Bharat is just a repackaged Nehru Yuva Kendra, a desperate attempt to wipe out history and rewrite it to fit their propaganda. But truth doesn't bend to hate. The government must withdraw this farcical rebranding,” Chib told ETV Bharat.

“The Centre should rather be concerned over the joblessness affecting the youth as the rate of unemployment has risen to 5.1 per cent in April. Most of them are young persons and are facing the worst joblessness over the past 45 years. The Modi government had promised jobs but it remained only an election promise. The government recruitment has been halted, exam calendars have been stopped and contract appointments are being pushed,” he said.

The grand old party said the move on NYKS had come at a time when the Congress was extending full support to the Centre following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack.

“The Congress has been playing a constructive opposition to demonstrate national unity but the government is still playing politics,” AICC functionary Chandan Yadav told ETV Bharat.