MADURAI: A vacation bench of the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the state government on a fresh PIL filed seeking direction to remove caste names in schools and hostels in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
The litigant A Rahul, an advocate from Madurai, stated in his petition that a study conducted by the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF), across 441 schools in the year 2023, revealed widespread caste-based violence and discrimination. The study, which covered government, government-aided and private schools, found that caste-based discrimination was prevalent among students and alarmingly, propagated by some teachers.
Following a series of disturbing incidents, a one-man committee headed by retired HC judge, Justice K Chandru, was appointed by the state government to address caste based discrimination and violence in TN schools. The very first recommendation made by the committee, in its report in June 2024, was to drop caste prefixes or suffixes from the names of schools and hostels in the state.
The Madras HC too, in an order dated April 16, 2025, had issued a series of directions including removal of caste names from schools and hostels in TN. But several schools and hostels continue the practice, like Government Adi Dravidar Schools or Kallar Reclamation Schools, among others, he added. He requested the court to direct the government to strictly implement the HC order before the schools reopen in June.
A vacation bench comprising justices D Bharatha Chakravarthy and R Poornima issued notice to the authorities concerned and adjourned the case to June 12.