The Greater Chennai Corporation is having another go at reviewing public signage within its jurisdiction to rid street names of any caste connotations.
This is in line with a directive by the Social Justice Department to civic bodies to rename residential localities, streets, roads, water bodies, and villages that have caste-associated nomenclature or imply social discrimination. This move comes after Justice N Ramesh of the Madras High Court pointed out last fortnight the incongruity of caste-based street names in this day and age.
Tamil Nadu has a recent history of trying to scrub caste from street names and public assets. In fact, it can claim to be a pioneer in the matter. In 1978, the then state government issued orders to local bodies to remove any reference to caste from the names of roads and streets statewide. The Madras High Court issued similar directions in 2018. On a related facet of the caste question, the High Court in 2025 ordered that no school or college, government-run or private, should have a name with caste connotations.
However, past efforts in this direction have run into practical difficulties or led to comical outcomes in some cases. Where a street was overtly named after a caste rather than a personality, the renaming might be simple, provided the change has the sanction of the people living there. But when a street is named after a personality whose name includes his or her caste, the change is not so easy. Removing the caste name but retaining the first name might make it generic with several other streets. In some cases, street names are a tribute to the contribution made by a personality, not his or her caste; so, effacing a part of the name would do no justice at all, especially where he or she is a local legend.
Moreover, renaming efforts of the past went no deeper than rewriting signboards and the like and thus fought a losing battle with popular usage. While the renaming guidelines issued by the government in October 2025 are more nuanced than in the past, the government would do well to look again at the approach adopted by the Justice K Chandru Committee when it was asked to examine caste- and community-based discrimination in schools and colleges in 2024. That committee was constituted after the horrific Nanguneri incident of caste violence in which a 17-year-old Dalit student and his sister were attacked. Taking a holistic view of the problem, its recommendations covered aspects like institutional governance, management of symbols, and community participation, not just the name on the school board.
While unequivocally recommending there be no caste in the name of a school or college, it went deeper, suggesting that teachers be sensitised and pupils be discouraged from wearing any caste marks to school.
Cosmetic approaches limited to rewriting signboards are bound to achieve indifferent results. Also, considering that we live in an age of culture wars, they may be perceived as a challenge to social identity, leading to an entrenchment of old attitudes. To really make a difference, the government needs to demonstrate it has resolute will and that it is willing to address more than the name of the problem.