New Delhi, 27 July (H.S.): The Madras high court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to remove prefixes and suffixes such as tribal from the names of government schools in the state. The court, hearing a suo moto case on the socio-economic status of Kalvarayan Hills residents, particularly scheduled tribes, found it painful that even in the 21st century, the government would allow such terms in schools functioning out of public money.

The court ruled that the usage of the term Tribal along with the name of the Government School is unwarranted, as it would result in stigmatizing children studying in schools. The court stated that Stigmatisation of children at no circumstances be approved by the Courts and by the Government. Wherever such names are used indicating a particular community/caste are to be removed and the Schools must be named as Government Schools and children residing in that locality must be granted admission in the School to pursue their education.

The court expressed unhappiness over the status report filed by the state government on the situation in Kalvarayan hills, which claimed 68 lives in June after locals consumed illicit liquor laced with methanol. The CB-CID is currently investigating the incident. The court is hearing the case for the government to take immediate measures to ensure that people in and around the Kalvarayan Hills have basic amenities, welfare schemes for social upliftment, special care in education, and economic interests.

The court deemed the status report filed by the department of Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare insufficient and raised doubts about the proper use of the money spent on the locality. Advocate general P S Raman has been asked to appraise authorities to conduct thorough inspections and find out the ground reality in Kalvarayan Hills.

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar