The road from Lodhi Garden gate number 2, home to some of the most important buildings in Delhi — India International Centre Annexe, World Bank, UNICEF and UNDP — will soon have a name. And the contenders are two famous personalities of India.

They are industrialist, parliamentarian and philanthropist Dr KK Birla and freedom fighter and parliamentarian Durgabai Deshmukh, both known for their significant contributions to the development of the country.

Birla is perhaps the better known of the two. But Deshmukh, too, has donned many hats during her career.

Born in Andhra Pradesh, she was married to CD Deshmukh, the first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Finance Minister in the Union Cabinet from 1950 to 1956.

She began her career as a volunteer of the Indian National Congress and later became the President of the Blind Relief Association in Delhi. She set up a school and hostel and a light engineering workshop for the blind.

The New Delhi Municipal Council, under whose jurisdiction the road lies, will decide on the name at a council meeting on Wednesday.

According to documents in possession of Newsline, they had received requests for naming the road in Birla’s name from Shobhana Bhartia, his daughter and Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha. On October 1, she had requested Chief Minister Sheila Dikhsit to consider the name for the road.

The Council for Social Development forwarded the name of Deshmukh. They sent the request to the Department of Urban Development, from where it was forwarded to Dikshit.

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