THOOTHUKUDI: During the grama sabha meetings held on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Monday, as many as 33 panchayats passed resolutions to change the names of a whopping 80 streets that bore caste identifiers. To rid the society of divisions based on caste and creed, District Collector Dr K Senthil Raj had recently appealed to the village panchayats and urban local bodies to rename the streets having caste names after inspirational leaders, freedom fighters, scientists, or Tamil scholars.
On Monday, 33 panchayats attached to nine panchayat unions in the district passed resolutions to use caste-neutral names for the 80 streets. Speaking to TNIE, the collector said the resolutions will be forwarded to the state government for making the changes in revenue records through government gazette notification. Once this is done, the addresses will be changed in all official communications, including PDS card, driving license, Aadhaar card, and voter ID.
"I strongly believe that the use of caste identifiers creates hatred among communities, which further paves the way for compartmentalisation even in schools. The police are also taking up several initiatives to erase caste markers from the region and ensure communal harmony in the society," the collector added.