The Kerala government has decided to abolish the term “colony” to designate settlements of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in official records.

On his final day as a state minister, K. Radhakrishnan, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s central committee and the sole candidate to secure a communist victory in the state during the 18th Lok Sabha election in 2024, made a landmark decision by eliminating the term "colony" from official documentation.

Emphasising the historical context of British colonial rule in India, Radhakrishnan, who is Kerala’s Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, highlighted that landlords once controlled the places that were designated as colonies. He underscored that removing the term “colony” represented a significant step in undoing the remnants of this historical oppression.

He said: “‘Colony’ is a term coined by oppressors and linked to slavery. Residents can suggest alternate names; generic names derived from their suggestions should be used and places should not be named after people.” Using someone’s name for a location could cause disagreements, he continued.

However, areas that currently bear the names of people could continue to keep them.

According to the directive from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Department, the terms “colony”, "ooru" and "sanketham" are currently used to describe places primarily populated by Scheduled Tribes and Castes.

The directive suggested that terms such as "nagar", "unnathi" and "prakriti" be used instead.

The term “colony” is frequently used to refer to hamlets that are mostly home to the members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes. People from other castes refer to people from these communities as “colony-wasi,” both in person and in online spaces.

The derogatory label "colony-wasis" has been used to cyberbully people from Scheduled Caste and Tribe communities. This term, along with derogatory phrases like “colony-vanam” or "colony-wasi," has been prominently featured in comedy shows and on social media platforms, contributing to the perpetuation of stigma and discrimination.

Activists have long advocated for concerted efforts to address and combat these discriminatory practices.

In Kerala, there are 26,198 housing settlements designated for Scheduled Castes and 6,578 settlements for Scheduled Tribes.

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