Thiruvananthapuram: K Radhakrishnan, who won Lok Sabha election from Alathur, Tuesday marked his last day as MLA & minister in Kerala cabinet with a unique order – no more use of words ‘colony’, ‘sanketham’ and ‘ooru’, reminiscent of colonial era, to describe tribal & SC/ST settlements.
Radhakrishnan was minister for SC, ST and OBC development besides devaswom and parliamentary affairs.The order said suitable names suffixed by ‘nagar’, ‘unnathi’ or ‘prakrithi’ could replace the present suffixes, which on many occasions led to “disrespect or disregard” to those hailing from such areas.
Radhakrishnan was minister for SC, ST and OBC development besides devaswom and parliamentary affairs.The order said suitable names suffixed by ‘nagar’, ‘unnathi’ or ‘prakrithi’ could replace the present suffixes, which on many occasions led to “disrespect or disregard” to those hailing from such areas.
“The word colony, created by the oppressors, is usually associated with slavery that evokes a sense of inferiority and oppression among residents there,” Radhakrishnan said after his resignation. He tendered his resignation as minister and as MLA to the Kerala CM and speaker, respectively, on Tuesday.
One of the senior-most members of the assembly, Radhakrishnan represented Chelakkara as MLA for the fifth time. Prior to his present assignment in Pinarayi Vijayan’s second cabinet, he had served as a minister as well as assembly speaker in his previous tenures as MLA.