The Tamil Nadu government has issued detailed guidelines for identifying and renaming roads, streets, residential areas, bus stands, markets, waterbodies, and village panchayats that carry caste-based or discriminatory names.
The government issued the guidelines in line with the announcement made by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in the Assembly on April 29 that the term “Colony” would be removed from official records and public usage, as it had come to symbolise oppression and carried the connotation of untouchability.
According to the guidelines, local bodies should conduct a detailed assessment to determine whether any existing names of roads, streets, residential areas, bus stands, markets, or waterbodies are derogatory towards a particular community. The exercise should be carried out under the supervision of the Block Development Officers for village panchayats, Executive Officers for town panchayats, and Commissioners for municipalities and corporations.
After preparing the list of such names, the officials concerned should evaluate the prevailing local situation and take into account the views of residents. If there is no objection to continuing with the existing name, the same name should be retained. However, if the name is found to be derogatory or offensive, and the residents demand a change, it should be renamed.
Certain names, including Adidravidar Colony, Harijan Colony, Vannankulam, Parayar Street and Chakkiliar Salai, must be renamed. In such cases, they should be renamed with caste-neutral and socially inclusive alternatives based on the opinion of residents.
The government has also suggested using the names of flowers for ponds and the names of saint poets, scholars, and leaders for streets and roads. The government further directed officials to exercise utmost caution while carrying out the exercise.
For effecting the change of names, the approval of the Grama Sabha and Area Sabha is required for village panchayats and urban local bodies respectively. If the existing name is to be retained, valid reasons should be recorded. For rural local bodies, the list prepared by the Block Development Officers should be verified by an officer of the rank of Assistant Director (Rural Development) at the district level, and for urban local bodies, the lists prepared by the Executive Officers or Commissioners should be verified by the officers at the zonal level.
After verification, the Collector should issue a notification in the District Gazette, allowing a 21-day period from the date of publication for the public to submit objections or suggestions in writing. The objections or suggestions should be carefully examined before preparing consolidated proposals, separately for rural and urban local bodies, to be forwarded to the State government.
The State government shall take a final decision on the renaming in accordance with the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994, and the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998, and issue the final orders. It has also issued similar guidelines to the Revenue and Disaster Management Department to remove caste-based names from revenue villages.
Published – October 09, 2025 12:00 am IST
