Guj Confidential: ‘Atal Circle’ in the capital

Schools named after sages

The AMC School Board, which is celebrating its centenary year this week, named five of its schools from Nava Vadaj area of Naranpura Assembly constituency after sages. The schools include Nava Vadaj Municipal School Number 1 of Naranpura Assembly Constituency which has been named Sati Anasuya Municipal Primary School, Nava Vadaj Municipal School Number 3/4 has been named Atri Rishi Municipal Primary School, Gandhinagar Municipal School Number 2 was renamed to Gautam Rishi Municipal Primary School, Nava Vadaj Municipal School Number 9/10 was named Vashishtha Rishi Municipal Primary School and Nirnaynagar Municipal Primary School was named Jamadagni Rishi Municipal Primary School. Nava Vadaj area falls in the Naranpura Assembly constituency – the seat Union Home Minister Amit Shah who represented as MLA before being elected as MP from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat of which Naranpura is a constituent. “In the name of such great sages and creating an identity of schools, different schools were named after them. In the coming time, schools will be named after more great personalities of the country, patriots, martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country,” school board chairman Sujay Mehta said. With the intention of making children aware of the historical and cultural heritage, developing patriotism and values in them, the school board stated that as suggested by the CM Bhupendra Patel, the school board took an initiative of naming the schools after these great personalities. Majority of the 453 Municipal schools in Ahmedabad are currently identified by area and number.

‘Ominous’ office

With two Collectors of Surendranagar district now under Directorate of Enforcement (ED) scanner in connection with alleged money laundering cases within the past four years, there is talk among the power corridors to get the collector office “cleansed through a hawan or puja” before bureaucrats turn down to take the position, fearing similar fate. The most recent case is of 2015 batch IAS officer Rajendra Patel, who was posted as Surendranagar Collector since February 2025, and was removed from his post by the General Administration Department (GAD) this week and kept without posting. A 2011 batch IAS officer, K Rajesh, who was Surendranagar collector in 2021, remains under suspension since July 2022. Rajesh is also facing charges by the ED in a money laundering case. He was arrested by CBI in July 2022 who was then serving as joint secretary in the General Administration Department (GAD) after alleged corruption charges surfaced against him in January 2021 when he was Surendranagar collector. He was soon transferred as joint secretary, law and order, in the state home department and within a week posted to the GAD in June 2021.