Maharashtra: Housing settlements that depict caste to be renamed

Mumbai: The cabinet on Wednesday has decided that it will rename housing settlements and colonies in the state that have caste identifying names.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s office said in a statement that the government chose to rename the localities to maintain social harmony and national unity.

The CMO added that names such as “Mahar-wada, Bouddh-wada, Mang-wada, Dhor-vasti, Brahman-wada and Mali-galli”, which pointed to the community that resided in a certain area, were not suited to a progressive state like Maharashtra.

The names refer to Dalits, Dalit Buddhists, the community that handles dead animals, and gardeners, among others as per media reports.

The proposal was made by social justice minister Dhananjay Munde. The cabinet has decided that these settlements be renamed with names of prominent personalities.

After changing the names, the government said that the localities will now get names like Samata Nagar, Bhim Nagar, Jyotinagar, Shahunagar and Kranti Nagar.

The state had earlier dropped the usage of the word Dalit in official communication and documents in 2019 replacing it with scheduled caste or Neo-Buddhist community.

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