'It is a matter of self-respect and dignity to live in Indra Nagar rather than in a street that identifies your caste.'
How Anusuya Saravanamuthu, all of 29 years old, interfaced with the government and got her street name identifying her caste changed.
I was born in Anandavadi village in Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu. In the nineties, when my street came into being, it was called Indra Nagar. Elders tell me that at that time the government had given free pattas to 100 families and this street came up.
Earlier there was a mud road, and when a concrete road came up the government officials named it Adidravidar street which means that people belonging to the Scheduled Caste live here.
I did my schooling in my village as there is a higher secondary school here. Later I joined engineering college and became a civil engineer. I had applied for an Aadhaar card when I was in college and had given my address as Indra Nagar, but when the card came it showed my address as Adidravidar street, thus labeling me as a member of the Scheduled Caste.
When I applied for a job the appointment letter also showed Adidravidar street. Thus, even before I joined a company, everyone there knew I am a Scheduled Caste member. You know how much respect we command.
When I was working in Hyderabad I heard that the CM's cell in Tamil Nadu was very proactive. So when I came for a holiday to my village I drafted a petition to reclaim our original name 'Indra Nagar' and gathered the signature of all the residents there.
I gave the petition in the collector's office to be given to the CM's cell in August 2022. The petition was forwarded to the block development office, but nothing happened.
The next year, in February 2023, I drafted another petition in which I mentioned my earlier petition and this time went and gave it directly in the CM's cell in Chennai. The voter IDs of our street residents and ration cards all showed the casteist name.
I sent a petition to the ration office and they changed the address to Indra Nagar only in my card, but did not do anything about the street name.
The CM's cell sent my petition to the collector who in turn sent it to our BDO. Our village panchayat president passed a resolution saying that our street should be called Indra Nagar, and he did it based on a order from the district collector.
I met the panchayat president and thanked him. After a month they put up a board which announced our street as Indra Nagar.
I think it is a matter of self-respect and dignity to live in Indra Nagar rather than in a street that identifies your caste.
As early as 1978 MGR (M G Ramachandran) as chief minister had said that all caste names should be removed from street and village names. Two years ago, the current government in Tamil Nadu reiterated the same but on the ground nothing has been followed.
Villupuram MP D Ravikumar praised me at a public meeting.
In future I would like to build better toilets in the school and also maintain it. I will strive to get more facilities in the school ground for more outdoor and indoor games.
I am a civil engineer and have a good job in the private sector. My dream is to live a life of peace and contentment. A friend who attended the name board erecting ceremony told me that he was inspired by me.
There was a road in his village that had not been repaired for 15 years. With my guidance he gave a petition to the district collector and also to the CM's cell. I hope more people approach the government when there is a public problem.
My village has a higher secondary school. There is a primary health centre with one nurse. There is a bus stop and the nearest railway station is at Ariyalur. Electricity is available, both tap water and well water are available.
The roads are in poor condition because a lot of lime mining takes place around here and the heavily laden lorries break the road. I did this for self-respect and dignity, I have no ideas of standing for panchayat elections.
My street is an educated one, we have ten engineers, two doctors and many teachers.
It is our duty to bring our civic problems to the powers that be. They will do the needful, all you need is persistence.
As told to A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com
