Name change to become gamechanger for Bengal

Paschimbanga Transport dept will have to change number plates of 36 lakh vehicles in the state.

Even as the West Bengal Assembly debated and passed the Bill for changing the name of the state from West Bengal to Paschimbanga on Saturday,the issue has begun hitting the social networking sites with at least one well-known Indian economist tweeting,Another all-party meeting in Bengal to decide number plates? PB already taken by Punjab.

While the tweet by economist Bibek Debroy seems to be in the realm of joke,or soft fun,the issue of choosing the right alphabet is certain to lead to serious churning of minds. The state legislators and bureaucrats are already working on it PB for Punjab having already been booked and posing a challenge.

The government under Mamata Banerjee strongly feels the name change is going to be a gamechanger as well,for a state that is witnessing Paribartan under her stewardship. For one,by becoming Paschimbanga,the state moves four notches up in the alphabetical ladder that would give it an opportunity to be heard more in public forums.

At present,in social networking websites,there are at least 20-30 forums visible with more than 500-1000 members in every forum,who all have created the forum to protest against the name change. If you really want to change the name to take us above in the list,then take us at least among the first 10 states, commented a senior college professor. An engineer with a multinational company commented,Till now,we were called Bong,now we will be called POGO.

The state transport department will have to undergo a major exercise to change the number plates of 36 lakh vehicles in the state.

Since PB is already taken by Punjab,we have to think of something else. According to the Motor Vehicles Act,the first two letters of the registration plate represent the state like UP for Uttar Pradesh.

But the states which have a name considered as one noun,generally,the first and last initials are taken,as KA for Karnataka. And in some cases,the first initial of the state and the next prominent alphabet in the name are taken: RJ for Rajasthan. In our case,we may have to take P as the first initial and then the next prominent alphabet. It could be then PG or PS, added the official.

Story continues below this ad

Sovandeb Chatterjee,chief whip of the state Assembly said,We have discussed the issue of the number plates and other changes. Whatever is decided as the states representative initial,it will be uniform for all the departments including the number plates,logo of the state police and others. However,Mamata Banerjee is yet to decide on the representative initials.

Meanwhile,this system of changing the number plates will incur a huge cost to the government as well as the people,said a senior transport official.