Tamil Nadu school, college hostels for underprivileged students to be renamed ‘Social Justice Hostels’: CM MK Stalin

In a major development, the Tamil Nadu government is going to rename state-run schools and colleges’ hostels for underprivileged students as ‘social justice hostels’. State Chief Minister M. K. Stalin said that the move is aimed at reinforcing the principles of equality and inclusion, adding that under the DMK rule there would be no kind of discrimination, be it gender or caste.

“School and college hostels for students being operated by various departments across Tamil Nadu will henceforth be called social justice hostels. There won’t be any sort of discrimination”, he said.

Stalin urged to PM Narendra Modi to amend the SC/ST names that ended with ’N’ and ‘A’ to be replaced with ‘R’ in the records to restore dignity.  Recalling the time when he announced in the state assembly that the term ‘colony’ is generally used to refer a particular caste hence it should be removed from the official records as it has become “a symbol of dominance, a symbol of untouchability and a slang word” and he announced that “steps will be taken to remove this word from government documents and public domain”.

He also mentioned that a government order was issued on behalf of the School Education Department on June 25th that had significant measures to prevent caste and community-based conflicts and differences amidst school students to develop harmonious virtues in them.

Following a review by a commission chaired by retired High Court Justice K. Chandru, the state government adopted several recommendations aimed at mitigating caste-based conflicts in schools. The commission, established specifically to address this issue, proposed various measures, including the removal of caste-related prefixes and suffixes from school names.

1,79,568 students across 2,739 government hostels across Tamil Nadu are run by Adi Dravidar and the tribal welfare Department, besides Backward Classes and Minority Welfare Department.

BJP leader and union minister L Murugan asked: “Is it enough if the hostels for SC and ST students are named as social justice hostels.”

“Did the chief minister visit any of those hostels,” the minister of State for Information and Broadcasting asked.

Speaking to reporters here, he said if Stalin had real concern for the hostel students, then he would allocate funds and improve the amenities.

“The chief minister is staging a big farce. He is trying to fool everyone by naming the hostel for SC and ST students as social justice hostel. When I was Deputy Chairman of the SC Commission, I visited every hostel,” Murugan said.

During his visit, he found that the hostels were ‘poor’ and students had a bad experience. Stalin should visit the hostels in Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP is ruling, to see the extent to which the facilities were provided.

“He should visit the hostels in Karnataka and Telangana. There are no basic facilities in Tamil Nadu….last week, the students of the Chennai Law College took to the streets to protest against poor conditions at their hostel,” Murugan said.

The Central Minister alleged that the DMK was talking about social justice despite untouchability still existing in many villages in the state.

BJP’s former state president K Annamalai said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’ that the government hostels were in a state of disrepair and collapse due to lack of proper maintenance.

Students have repeatedly complained that quality food and clean drinking water are not provided in the hostels, he said. Annamalai alleged that the DMK government has been returning the funds provided by the Centre for the development of the Adi Dravidar community every year, without spending on improving Adi Dravidar schools and hostels.

“Changing the name of the hostels is mere publicity. The DMK government has not spent even one per cent of its expenditure on advertising for the welfare of students,” he alleged.

NTK chief coordinator Seeman, who flayed Stalin, asked him to first explain what social justice meant and then name the hostels.

“Social justice hostel is mere rhetoric. Social justice will prevail only after dignity is restored to those who have been ostracised and denied opportunities,” he said.

(with PTI inputs)

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