‘Harijan’ bastis, streets in Delhi to be renamed after Ambedkar

Three years after it first mooted the idea of removing the name “Harijan (term used to refer to Dalits)” from certain streets and colonies of Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government on Thursday prepared a proposal to rename all such colonies and streets after Dalit leader and architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar

Three years after it first mooted the idea of removing the name “Harijan (term used to refer to Dalits)” from certain streets and colonies of Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government on Thursday prepared a proposal to rename all such colonies and streets after Dalit leader and architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar.

HT Image

Delhi social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam tabled the proposal, while also chairing a meeting in this regard with senior officials to expedite the process. “The Delhi government, under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal, strives to uplift the SC, ST, OBC communities living in the national capital. We have taken immediate cognisance of the need for renaming of all ”Harijan” colonies, bastis, mohallas and streets. We have proposed that all these colonies, bastis, mohallas and streets be named after Babasaheb Ambedkar instead,” he said.

Harijan basti is a generic term used to refer to thousands of Dalit-dominated localities across India. But many Dalits have condemned the word, made popular by Mahatma Gandhi, and even the Supreme Court had called the term “abusive” in 2017.

While the office of the social welfare minister in Delhi does not have documented records of the total number of such Harijan bastis in the city, they estimate them to be around 500 to 600.