HC orders notice to TN govt on plea over SC habitation titles

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court today ordered notice to Tamil Nadu government on a petition seeking a direction to authorities to remove discriminiatory titles to Scheduled Caste habitations in Tamil Nadu.
Issuing notice to the Secretaries of Home, Rural Development, Panchayat and Local administration departments among others on the petition filed by former IAS officer P Sivakami, Justice R.Sudhakar and V.M.Velumani directed them to reply within three days.
The petitioner, who is also the founder President of the 'Social Equality Force' working for the cause of Dalits, wanted titles such as "Seri", "Kuppam" "Colony" and other "discriminatory" expressions given to habitations of SC people to be removed.

She submitted that suffixes attached to the Scheduled Caste Habitations reinforce untouchability by using titles such as 'seri' and humiliated the Dalits and violated human dignity.
They also amounted to intimidating the SC people, it claimed.
Sivakami, who was formerly with Bahujan Samaj Party, said such titles should be removed from the ration card, voter ID card and other government records also.
She sought fresh names according to the population in the respective areas or endorse the main name of the respective areas.