Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The residents of Mahoi village in Chandla assembly constituency in Chhatarpur district want to change the caste-related names of the school and the hamlet in the district.
The village is called Chamaran Purwa and the school Chamran Purwa school, which indicates a particular caste, say villagers.
They told the Free Press that they feel ashamed, as a caste-related word has been used to name the village which they belong to and the school where their children study.
The Chandla assembly constituency is not very far from the district headquarters.
The residents of Mahoi village in the constituency want to change the name of the school and the village.
They have spoken to the Sarpanch of the village as well as to the local officers.
As their plea has fallen on deaf ears they have submitted a memorandum to the collectorate. The memorandum has been addressed to Prime Minisiter Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
They demanded that the buildings or places that carry caste-related names should be changed.
They have also said that if the administration fails to take any action, they themselves will paint those names in black.
A few social workers of Mahoi Khurd have put black colour on such names written on a few buildings.
Founder of the Struggle for New Generation Saindi Singh says that everyone has the right to live with self-respect.
But the way the caste-related words have been written on the government buildings is really shameful.
He says if those names are not deleted, the members of the organisation will put black colour on those names.
District president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Malkhan Singh has said that the issue is serious and that nobody has ever paid any attention to such things.
He further says that he will talk to the officials of the district administration about those names which will soon be removed.
On the other hand, a lawyer in the district court Shiv Pratap Singh says that action is taken against those who use caste-related words in public.
Similarly, action should be taken against the collector who is the head of the district administration for letting those words continue on the government buildings and on the public places.
However, district collector and district education officer could not be contacted for comments on the issue even after repeated attempted by Free Press.
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