Chennai, Aug 19 — The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has launched a citywide enumeration of street nameboards to identify and remove caste references from public places, in line with the Tamil Nadu government’s social justice initiative.
Officials in all 15 Corporation zones have been directed to inspect street names and prepare detailed reports. So far, around 77 streets carrying caste-related names have been identified in the Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam and Adyar zones. Reports from the remaining zones are awaited.
The exercise follows instructions from the Social Justice Department to remove or rename caste references associated with residential areas, streets, roads, water bodies and revenue villages under local bodies across Tamil Nadu.
The Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department had issued Government Order 313 on October 6, laying down guidelines for changing public names that indicate caste identities or perpetuate social discrimination.
The Social Justice Department subsequently asked the Chennai Corporation to inspect public infrastructure and initiate corrective measures.
Under the guidelines, only the caste suffix will be removed if it forms part of a person’s name. However, streets named entirely after a caste will be given new names.
GCC officials said each proposal would be examined before the revised name was formally approved.
Among the names currently under review in the Kodambakkam zone are Gengu Reddy Road, Brahmin Street, Vanniyar Street, Reddy Street and Dr Nair Road.
The progress of the initiative is expected to be reviewed at a meeting of the State-Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, which will be chaired by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay shortly.
Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front State secretary K. Veni welcomed the enumeration, describing it as consistent with Tamil Nadu’s longstanding commitment to social justice.
She urged the government to include the names of prominent social reformers such as Dr B.R. Ambedkar and M. Singaravelar while preparing the revised list.
Veni said the previous government had proposed alternative names but failed to adequately recognise leaders who had fought against caste discrimination. The organisation had submitted a representation seeking their inclusion, she added.
Several Chennai streets have undergone similar changes in the past. G.N. Chetty Road was expanded as Gopathy Narayanan Road, while Srinivasa Iyer Street and Balakrishna Naicken Street in West Mambalam were shortened to Srinivasa (I) Street and Balakrishna (N) Street, respectively.