Father of the Nation- Not an Official Title

Indians commonly define Gandhi as the ‘father of the nation’. This tittle is not official and has not been formally granted by the Indian government. An RTI query submitted in February 2012 by a 10-year-old Lucknow girl disclosed that PMO has no record of giving this tittle to Gandhi. MHA and National Archives of India also communicated of not having any records. Origin of this title is traced back to a radio address (on Singapore radio) on 6 Jul 1944 by Subhash Chandra Bose where Bose addressed Gandhi as “The Father of the Nation”. On 28 Apr 1947, Sarojini Naidu during a conference also referred Gandhi as “Father of the Nation”.  The applicant for the RTI had also asked for Gandhi to be formally proclaimed as “Father of the Nation” to whom the MHA had notified that Gandhi could not be granted the title by the Government of India since the Indian constitution does not allow titles other than educational and military titles.