A day prior to his resignation as Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Tribes K Radhakrishnan, the senior CPI (M) leader, issued an order changing the names of all SC/ST residential areas in the State from colony and Ooru (Malayalam for settlement) to Nagar. According to Radhakrishnan, the only CPI(M) member from the State who was elected to the Lok Sabha, the name colony sounds derogatory and hence it was being changed to a fashionable term like Nagar and Society.
It is not known whether the SC/ST settlements would get any kind of benefit with the change in name. The condition of these colonies is pathetic as the houses are all in a dilapidated State. The South West Monsoon has already claimed lives of a dozen people as many houses collapsed in landslides, heavy winds and torrential rains.
Radhakrishnan also said that residents in these colonies are reluctant to tell that they stay in colonies. But in neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, houses in colonies are owned by the elite class and an address in any of the colonies is a status symbol.
The houses or apartments in Saibaba Colony in Coimbatore command a premium of Rs four crore while those in Bangalore is patronized by upper middle class section. The only menace faced by residents in this locality is that of monkeys. The Defense Colony in New Delhi does not need any introduction to people who have visited the locality even once..
“We do not have any issues with the name Colony. Though it is a remnant of the colonial masters who ruled the country for more than hundred years, the name is here to stay,” said Pravin Pillai, a Chennai resident and entrepreneur.
According to Chandran and Pazhani, who reside in two separate colonies in Ernakulam district, it is not the name that matters. “The government should provide us with safe and strong houses instead of changing name from Colony to Nagar. The houses built with Kerala Government funds do not last even one Monsoon,” said Chandran.Though school drop outs, both of them are intelligent enough to ask what’s in a name.
“Colonies or Nagar or Ooru, what matters is the kind of house they build for us. We do not want bungalows but small and beautiful houses,” said Pazhani.
The degradation of colonies began with the 1,00,000 houses the then United Front government built in 1969-1970 for poorer sections in the society. “ They were an apology for a house. Named as Laksham Veedu Colony (One Lakh Houses’ Colony) , the dwelling places turned out to den of all wises. Now there are no such houses in the State. The Government itself is responsible for these colonies getting bad reputation,” said Chandran.
The CPI(M) may have to chalk out another strategy to refurbish its image which took a severe beating in the Lok Sabha polls.
