TNUEF slams Minister's proposal on caste identity cards for students

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) on Saturday condemned Revenue and Disaster Management Minister KA Sengottaiyan's announcement on issuing caste identity cards to school students, saying it was "shocking", insensitive to social justice and reflected a lack of understanding of the realities prevailing in educational institutions.

In a joint statement, TNUEF State president T Chellakannu and general secretary P Sugandhi said the State should instead strive to create classrooms and campuses free from caste discrimination and rooted in equality.

The organisation cited its field study on caste discrimination in schools, conducted among 644 students across 441 schools, which found that students openly displayed caste identities by wearing coloured threads, dollar pendants, chains, earrings, bindis and caps associated with particular castes. The study also found students carrying photographs of caste leaders in bus passes and notebooks, wearing T-shirts and vests with caste symbols, and displaying caste stickers and colours on bicycles.

The TNUEF said its study had recommended eliminating such practices and submitted the findings to the School Education Department and the Justice K Chandru Commission constituted to address caste discrimination in educational institutions.

It noted that, acting on such concerns, the State government had directed schools from the 2024-25 academic year not to mention students' caste in attendance registers. Educational institutions should evolve as symbols of equality, it said.

The organisation warned that the Minister's announcement would instead encourage caste consciousness on campuses, with identity cards becoming visible markers that divide students along caste lines.

Demanding that the proposal be withdrawn immediately, the TNUEF said the move would undermine efforts to build caste-free and inclusive educational spaces.