- By Nidhi Giri
- Wed, 15 Apr 2026 02:58 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Rajasthan government has began a campaign that focuses on the meanings behind children's names, treating the choice of a name as an important aspect of identity. Called the "Saarthak Naam Abhiyan" or Meaningful Names Campaign, the initiative encourages families to reconsider names that officials feel may have negative or unclear connotations such as Sheru, Shaitan, Kalu, and Tinku. As per the government, such names could influence a child's self-image and confidence.
In efforts to fulfill this initiative, the education department has compiled a list of around 3,000 suggested names, including 1,409 options for boys and 1,541 for girls. The list features names like Annapurna, Balmukund, Badrinath, Abheer, Agnibha, Aradhya,and Vaishnavi.
Participation in the campaign is not compulsory. Teachers are expected to discuss the idea with parents during parent-teacher meetings, and any alteration to a student's name would only take place with the family’s written approval. The initiative is aimed to benefit students from Classes 1 to 9, with provisions to update existing school records where needed. Apart from the names, the initiative will also try to exclude terms that are caste-based or derogatory in nature.
What Officials Said About The Initiative
According to a News18 report, government officials said that names have a long term impact on child growth and confidence. A name carrying negative connotations can affect a child’s mental growth and identity.
Officials said that there are around 2,000-3,000 such name issues across school with parents and teachers already holding discussions for changes.
In another update, the Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that the heat will increase rapidly across multiple states, including Rajasthan. Mild winds have been present, providing some temporary cooling to this region. However, the temperature feels much hotter when the mild winds disappear, as now the hot winds will remain.
By mid-afternoon, heatwave and heatwave-like conditions will begin to form, in addition to the two western disturbances that may be active. There is a possibility that some areas may experience light rain and/or isolated thunderstorms between April 15 and 18, due to the effects of these western disturbances.