Mahatma Gandhi cannot be accorded the 'Father of the Nation' title by the government as the Constitution does not permit any titles except educational and military ones, the Home Ministry has said. In an RTI response to Lucknow-based student Aishwarya Parashar, the Home Ministry told her that no action was taken on her plea to the President to declare Mahatma Gandhi as 'Father of the Nation' because Article 18 (1) of the Constitution does not permit any titles except education and military ones.
Aishwarya had filed number of RTI petitions seeking details about Mahatma Gandhi and the reasons of referring him as Father of the Nation. In response, she was told that no such title has been accorded to Mahatma Gandhi. Driven by a patriot zeal, Class VI student Aishwarya wrote to the then President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue a notification declaring Mahatma Gandhi as 'Father of the Nation'.
Aishwarya had filed an RTI petition seeking to know the action taken on her plea by the President and the Prime Minister. The application was transferred to the Home Ministry with instructions to explain the action taken on her plea. In its response, the Home Ministry told Aishwarya the above mentioned reason why the title of 'Father of the Nation' cannot be accorded to Mahatma Gandhi.
