New scheme named after Indira Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Barely ten days after a directive from the Cabinet Secretary to sparingly use the names of national leaders for any new programme, government today announced a new scheme named after Indira Gandhi for expectant and lactating mothers.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the implementation of the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana targeted at improving the health of expectant mothers and ensuring proper nutrition for newborns.

Asked whether the government had taken note of the new directive of the Cabinet Secretary on naming projects after Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "May be this was named before the Cabinet Secretary's circular".

"The Cabinet has approved it, the Cabinet has endorsed the naming of the scheme after Indira Gandhiji," he said.

Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar had advised ministers to sparingly name programmes after national leaders as implementation of many of these programmes is "not always as ought to be".

"This reduces the value of identifying programmes with national figures particularly as implementation and impact of many of these programmes is not always as ought to be. As such many of them do not merit such association," Chandrashekhar had said.