AGRA: Putting to rest speculation about changing the name of Agra to 'Agravan', state urban development minister Suresh Khanna said here on Monday that no such plans are afoot. However, BJP MLA from Agra North Jagan Prasad Garg, who had written to chief minister Yogi Adityanath last week to rename the city, said that he will "pursue the matter". Khanna was in Agra to participate in the mega rally organized by the Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) to spread awareness about cleanliness in the city. The eight-term MLA addressed the rally at Agra Municipal Corporation head office on MG road.Later, the minister briefly interacted with mediapersons. Asked about MLA Garg's demand to change name of Agra, Khanna said he is "quite ignorant about the matter". He was flanked by Garg on one side and mayor Naveen Jain on the other while he was answering questions. Pressed about the name change issue, the minister left the stage, commenting that state government is not considering any move to change the name of Agra.In response to the minister's comments, Garg said, "I have requested chief minister Yogi Adityanath to change the name of the city and will pursue the matter with him. There is substantial evidence available that nearly 5,000 years ago, the entire belt close to Yamuna was a densely forested area and people knew it as Agravan. Later, the Mughals renamed the city Akbarabad."Earlier this month, Garg, a five-time MLA, had written the CM, requesting him to rename the city of Taj as 'Agravan' as the city is home to the Agrawal community, who are the followers of Maharaja Agrasen. He had said there were many 'van' (forests) and Agarwals (followers of Maharaja Agrasen) in Agra, and therefore, the city's name should be changed to 'Agravan'. Earlier, more than 5,000 people, including women and children, participated in the mega rally for cleanliness. The rally was organized ahead of the 2019 edition of the central government's cleanliness survey, Swachh Survekshan. It started from Agra college ground in the morning and ended at the AMC head office in the afternoon. Various social and business organizations participated in the rally. AMC displayed machines and vehicles used for solid waste management.Talking about cleanliness, Khanna said, "Over nine lakh toilets have been constructed in urban areas of UP under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Civic body officials have been directed to make efforts to ensure that cities in UP achieve high ranks in Swachh Survekshan 2019. But this will not be possible without active participation of the citizens. I urge everyone to help in keeping city clean. "For Agra, standard maintenance of sanitation and hygiene is significant as it is also a major tourist destination. High level of cleanliness will give a good impression to foreign guests. They will spend time and money in the city, which will boost the local economy," the minister added.Mayor Jain said, "For a first time, such a massive public rally has taken place in the city. We are very excited with the public response. Ahead of the Swachh Survekshan, we have planned to work on a war footing to make the city neat and clean."

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