The Maharashtra government on Wednesday, December 2, gave nod to a proposal to rename residential areas in the state which have caste-based names. The decision was taken at a state Cabinet meeting.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s office said in a statement said that the government chose to rename the localities ‘to maintain social harmony and national unity.’
The CMO said that names such as ‘Mahar-wada, Bouddh-wada, Mang-wada, Dhor-vasti, Brahman-wada and Mali-galli’, which represented the Dalit community residing in that area, were not suited to a progressive state like Maharashtra.
The government said that the localities will now be renamed as Samata Nagar, Bhim Nagar, Jyotinagar, Shahunagar and Kranti Nagar.
Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde said that the decision move will change the mindset of people.
‘We want to abolish the caste system gradually,’ he was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express. ‘Everyone has an equal right to live with dignity. No one should be discriminated on the basis of caste and religion.’
Earlier, in a similar move, the state government had renamed the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Dalit Mitra Puraskar (award) as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Samajbhushan Puraskar.
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