<p>The Rajasthan education department has said in an order that government schools should remove the word ‘Harijan’ from their addresses. The said said that the word is “unconstitutional”.</p>.<p>An order by secondary education director Nathmal Didel said, "In Rajasthan there are some government secondary and higher secondary schools which are running in Harijan Basti. Some schools running in this specific colony have these words in their names. Moreover the word ‘Harijan’ needs to be removed because it is unconstitutional".</p>.<p>For the same the department has started a proceduree to remove ‘Harijan’ from the suffix or prefix in the school names.</p>.<p>The letter was also marked to the chief district education officers and district project coordinators of Samagra Shikha Abhiyaan. They are asked to compile a list of all such schools which have the word Harijan in their description. "We have asked the district education officers and district project coordinators of Samagra Shikha Abhiyaan to send us the school names within three days. We will ensure that the names are changed", Nathmal Didel confirmed.</p>.<p>According to the officials at the education department, the issue was highlighted when the department was listing the names odf schools ahead of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. "While making a list of the programs to be held in the schools on October 2nd, we came across several institutions which have the word Harijan in their names or addresses", Didel added.</p>.<p>The order has received a mix reaction from the educationists and social activists.</p>.<p>The word is derogatory according to notification by the Government of India. ‘Harijan’, meaning children of God, was first used by Mahatma Gandhi to refer to Dalits in 1932. However, the Supreme Court in 2017 said the use of the word was ‘abusive’.</p>
<p>The Rajasthan education department has said in an order that government schools should remove the word ‘Harijan’ from their addresses. The said said that the word is “unconstitutional”.</p>.<p>An order by secondary education director Nathmal Didel said, "In Rajasthan there are some government secondary and higher secondary schools which are running in Harijan Basti. Some schools running in this specific colony have these words in their names. Moreover the word ‘Harijan’ needs to be removed because it is unconstitutional".</p>.<p>For the same the department has started a proceduree to remove ‘Harijan’ from the suffix or prefix in the school names.</p>.<p>The letter was also marked to the chief district education officers and district project coordinators of Samagra Shikha Abhiyaan. They are asked to compile a list of all such schools which have the word Harijan in their description. "We have asked the district education officers and district project coordinators of Samagra Shikha Abhiyaan to send us the school names within three days. We will ensure that the names are changed", Nathmal Didel confirmed.</p>.<p>According to the officials at the education department, the issue was highlighted when the department was listing the names odf schools ahead of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. "While making a list of the programs to be held in the schools on October 2nd, we came across several institutions which have the word Harijan in their names or addresses", Didel added.</p>.<p>The order has received a mix reaction from the educationists and social activists.</p>.<p>The word is derogatory according to notification by the Government of India. ‘Harijan’, meaning children of God, was first used by Mahatma Gandhi to refer to Dalits in 1932. However, the Supreme Court in 2017 said the use of the word was ‘abusive’.</p>
