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The decision comes in the wake of a controversy over the naming of a new terminal at the recently-inaugurated airport in Chandigarh.
The central government is planning to bring in a policy that will no longer allow airports to be named after politicians, but the cities they are built in, reports said. However, terminals within the airports can be named after freedom fighters.
The decision, according to reports, came in the wake of a controversy over the naming of a new terminal at the recently-inaugurated airport in Chandigarh.
While Haryana reportedly wants the airport to be named after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Mangal Sein, Punjab wants it to be named after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
There was a recent controversy over the Bengaluru airport when Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad suggested it should have been named after Tipu Sultan.
The Oommen Chandy government in Kerala too is keen on naming the Nedumbassery airport in Kochi after the late Congress leader K. Karunakaran, reports said.
Last year, the civil aviation ministry had turned down requests to rename the Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi after Mahatma Gandhi.
Most of the airports in the country are named after national or state heroes, and the practice is followed in many countries.
Currently several airports in India are named after national heroes and political leaders—including Delhi's Indira Gandhi International, Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal, Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International, Bangalore's Kempegowda International and Lucknow's Chaudhury Charan Singh International.
