Haryana village loses its ‘Trump’ title within days

A village in Haryana, which was renamed Trump village, a few weeks ago has been stripped of its title.

Chandigarh, July 21: In June, Marora, a nondescript village in Haryana, got a lot of media attention after it was rechristened as Trump village, after Donald Trump, the President of the United States.

Nobody knows why it was renamed as Trump village, as the US President shares no connection with the village or Haryana for that matter.

However, nobody questioned the sudden change in the name of the village, which came just a few days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US on June 25-26, which saw a lot of bonhomie between the Indian PM and the US President.

The villagers of Marora were happy with their newfound fame. Marora was apparently 'baptised' as Trump village during a function hosted by the NGO, Sulabh International Social Service Organisation.

As a part of its renaming ceremony, the village got a huge billboard announcing "Welcome to Trump Village"--accompanied by a photograph of the US President, where he was seen smiling widely.

Now, it looks like the US President has to stay away from the village as the administration has declared that it was an "illegal" step to rename the village without taking any necessary permission from the authorities.

"Permission was not sought before changing the name. As per the rulebook, this cannot be done," Mani Ram Sharma, deputy commissioner of Nuh, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Thus, the Trump village signboard was removed by the district administration. However, the locals in the village were quite miffed with the action taken by the administration.

The villagers maintain that with the name change they got a "new identity", "recognition" and hope for "development".

Within days after the village's original name was changed, NGO Sulabh, as a part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, constructed several toilets in the village to end open defecation. Till then, the villagers were relieving themselves in fields and open spaces.

"We are not changing the name, just giving it a nickname. This will attract government and private entities to the village and bring in development," says Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh.

Earlier, Pathak said that the move to rename the village was aimed at encouraging businessmen to adopt villages in India to promote sanitation.

"If every businessman and NRI decides to adopt a village in India, we can see a turnaround. I hope more and more people will come forward to help for the cause of sanitation," added Pathak.

He also expressed hope that the gesture would strengthen ties between the two nations.

As the state authorities denied permission to the village to carry the Trump title, it looks like Marora has to go back to its old days of being "desi".

OneIndia News