We are amidst the coronavirus dread, doomed economy, financial crisis, food scarcity, and many more problems. And the Tamil Nadu government decides to give renaming a priority over everything.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu government has changed the names of 1018 places.
The main motive behind this decision was to add Tamil essence in the English names of the states and cities.
Like, Mylapore has now become “Mayilaappoor”; not much has changed in the pronunciation, only the alphabets have doubled, and a history student’s nightmare has come true.
Many of the old names were minted by the British, while some were derived from Sanskrit.
District collectors of Tamil Nadu suggested the anglicised names that need to be changed, and a high-level expert committee worked to give these anglicised names a Tamil makeover.
You can see all the names here.
Downsides Of Renaming
Why now? It is the biggest question as well as the main downside.
When the Tamil Nadu government released the names, people started trolling their decision through memes and tweets.
https://twitter.com/Justme36541234/status/1270969982055149568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1270969982055149568&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Ftrending%2Ftrending-in-india%2Ftamil-nadu-new-names-spelling-of-places-memes-6453817%2F
https://twitter.com/TheAadarGuy/status/1270971217843875840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1270971217843875840&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Ftrending%2Ftrending-in-india%2Ftamil-nadu-new-names-spelling-of-places-memes-6453817%2F
1)Covid19 is spreading rapidly 2)Migrants are suffering 3) Economy is crashed And what are we doing ??#NAMECHANGE pic.twitter.com/Um3xozvGgz
— Maharshi Madhukar (@MaharshiMadhuk1) June 11, 2020
When #NAMECHANGE is a bigger priority than governance during #COVID19Pandemic pic.twitter.com/frDJHuPwT7
— Saisha Arora (@SaishaArora5) June 11, 2020
Also Read: Are Private Hospitals Trying To Cash In The Coronavirus Crisis Situation And Fleece People Of Huge Amounts?
*Tamil Nadu Govt changes names of 1,018 places* #NAMECHANGE
Yogi ji to Tamil Nadu Govt : pic.twitter.com/JT31SFyu7Q
— Ullas Mehta (@ullasmehta_04) June 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/ViratSi24305334/status/1271055952523886592?s=20
Why is the renaming being done in the COVID crisis? We have a pandemic to deal with, and the most important thing we need today is resources. Changing a thousand names in government records will be expensive.
Changing spellings on public transports, signboards, registration documents will cost money, which, if put in the right places, can make a world of a difference.
Another downside of this renaming will be the confusion, especially for non-native people and tourists.
Government’s Response To The Criticism
People have criticized some spellings for not matching their Tamil phonetics as Vellore has changed to Veeloor. To this, the Minister has said that such names will be changed, as Vellore will now be called Veloor.
The Tamil language minister, who is behind this renaming, has said- “Only the spelling change of popular and significant places would be taken up for now. Rest would be left to various local bodies and departments and they can take it up at their own pace“.
Though the renaming is a big step in washing off old British imprints on our nation, the timing is odd. The government should focus more on better control of the situation at hand, and prioritising the COVID crisis to eliminate coronavirus sooner.
Image credits: Google images
Source: NDTV, The Indian Express, Times Of India
Find the blogger: @mitali_pk
This post is tagged under: coronavirus, Tamil Nadu government, Tamil Nadu, coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19 Pandemic, renaming cities, Indian States, state and cities, new names, Tamil names, British impact, British names removed, cost to government, expensive, resources, cases rising, focus, reason, district collector
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