PONDICHERRY RENAMED PUDUCHERRY

UNCLAS CHENNAI 002279 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTBS ODIP IN SUBJECT: PONDICHERRY RENAMED PUDUCHERRY ¶1. (U) The Government of India has changed the name of Pondicherry to Puducherry, its pre-colonial native name, with effect from October 1. A set of former French colonies in South India, Puducherry is one of India's six Union Territories, i.e., quasi states with less legislative powers and directly ruled by GOI. Local political parties unanimously supported the rechristening but some citizens wonder whether the political exercise is worth the loss of the brand name Pondicherry. In view of the GOI notification, Post recommends that the new name Puducherry be used in future USG communication. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) Based on an Act passed in both houses of the Indian Parliament in August, The Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI, notified that the Union Territory of Pondicherry will be known as Puducherry from October 1, 2006. Puducherry, meaning "new village," was the local name of the location before colonial French made it Pondicherry. It is said that the name Pondicherry was actually the result of a spelling mistake by an early scribe: the original French spelling was "Poudichery" but at some point, some scribe wrote "n" in place of "u" and the name stuck. ¶3. (U) Puducherry consists of four small former French enclaves on the South India coast: Puducherry and Karaikal in Tamil Nadu, Yanam in Andhra Pradesh and Mahe in Kerala. Puducherry and Karaikal are by far the larger ones. The territory has a total area of 492 sq. km. and a population of 900,000. Since the French East India Company set up a trading post in Puducherry in 1673, the area generally had remained under French control until 1954 when it was handed over to the Republic of India. ¶4. (U) As in the case of Chennai, which was Madras prior to 1996, all local political parties welcome the name change, the result of decades old resolutions passed by the erstwhile Pondicherry Assembly. A few citizens, however, wonder if the exercise would do any good to the region that has a small but growing tourism industry. ¶5. (U) COMMENT: Post recommends that the new name Puducherry be used in future USG communication and records. END COMMENT. HOPPER