A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the government to remove caste names from government and government-aided educational institutions in the State.
The petitioner, S. Saravanan, an advocate, said caste names influenced people’s minds. There was a need to eradicate the system. A proper way to achieve this was to educate people in this regard. Unfortunately, many educational institutions run by or aided by the Tamil Nadu government had caste names. The petitioner furnished a small list of such names. They include ‘Chikkaiah Naicker College’ and ‘Yadava College’ and ‘Government Kallar Higher Secondary School,’ ‘Nadar Saraswathi HSS and Sri Krishna Iyer Government Higher Secondary School.’ Some of the institutions might have been named after the persons who constructed or donated their land for the schools. Some others were named after leaders. There could not be any objection to this. But tagging a caste name certainly would not do justice for the sacrifice done by leaders and persons who constructed the institutions.
The First Bench, consisting of Acting Chief Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, ordered notice to the Chief Secretary among others. The notice is returnable by September 10.
