Reacting to the change in the name of Dyal Singh College here, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday warned of strict action against the management people who "dared" to change the name.
The media reported that one of the two Dyal Singh Colleges -- run from a common campus in south Delhi -- had been renamed 'Vande Mataram College' and banners put up during its annual day celebrations on April 25 depicted the name change.
"I have come to know of the news report, alleging that Dyal Singh College's name has been changed. I want to clarify that the college name will not be changed. There should not be any question about it," Javadekar said in an audio byte shared with the media.
"The management can only call them Dyal Singh College 'one' and 'two', or Dyal Singh College 'A' and 'B'... and we will take strict action against the college management for daring to change the name," he added.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had tweeted to seek action from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the HRD Minister against the college officials for "hurting the Sikhs' sentiments".
"... requested Modi ji to sack the Dyal Singh College management head Amitabh Sinha for going against the HRD Ministry assurance on no name change. I briefed him that Sinha's mischievous conduct had hurt the Sikh sentiments and I am hopeful of corrective action," she tweeted earlier in the day.
The college is named after Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, the founder of The Tribune Trust (1881) and the Punjab National Bank (1894). The philanthropist had set up Dyal Singh Trust, which in 1910 established the Dyal Singh College in Lahore.
The educational institution was operating morning and evening shifts earlier but the evening shift too was changed to morning hours last year. At present, two colleges are functioning in the morning shift from the common campus.
