Remove caste appellations from govt schools, Madras HC suggests State

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday suggested the State to remove caste appellations such as ‘Tribals’ and ‘Adi Dravidar’ from the schools run by the government, stating that it will stigmatize the students studying in those schools.

A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice C Kumarappan took suo motu cognizance to protect the socio-economic status of the downtrodden Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) people residing in various villages in the Kalvarayan Hills region of Kallakurichi district, following the deaths of 60 people in the recent hooch tragedy.

The bench wondered why caste appellations should continue to be used in government-run schools such as Tribal and Adi Dravidar welfare schools when the State has removed them from the streets. Suggesting the State to initiate steps to remove caste appellations from schools and colleges, the bench expressed, "The usage of such names will traumatise the students studying in such schools. What will people from other communities think of them? How could Tamil Nadu, being the forerunner of social justice, use such stigmatising words in educational institutions?"

The bench also expressed its dissatisfaction over the status report submitted by Advocate General (AG) PS Raman which was prepared by the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department regarding the schemes provided to the villages of Kalvarayan Hills.

The status report had said that for the past 10 years, Rs 40 crore has been spent to lay roads in the Kalvarayan Hills region while Rs 7.7 crore has been spent to modernize the villages and more than 80 projects have been implemented including the establishment of 150 schools, primary health centers, hostels, and other facilities.

After perusing the report of senior advocate KR Tamilmani who was appointed as amicus curiae, the bench observed that the status report of the State is insufficient as it does not project the actual reality prevailing in Kalvarayan Hills.

The bench said that although the State claimed to have provided a lot of schemes to the people in the Kalvarayan Hills, they were only on paper. "In reality, nothing has been made out to subserve the needs of the people," it expressed.

It also observed that after the annexation of the Kalvarayan Hills region with the Indian territory in 1976, the forest officials acted as jagirdhars (feudal officers) and harassed the tribals. Hence, the bench suggested the State to provide special concessions to enroll the youth of the region in schools and colleges.

The court also directed the AG to conduct an inspection in the Kalvarayan Hills region to arrive at a solution to uplift the people and apprise the situation to the authorities.

The inspection should be conducted after perusing the report submitted by the amicus curiae, the bench directed, while allowing the amicus curiae to participate in the inspection along with the officials. 

The bench then posted the matter on August 2 for further submission.