Context : The Supreme Court’s Centre for Research and Planning (CRP) has released a report titled “Reforming administrative nomenclature in the Indian judiciary: Embedding dignity and equity in service rules.” The report recommends eliminating archaic, colonial, and caste-based job titles to uphold the dignity of court employees.
What is the Core Issue?
- The “Grammar of Inequality”: The report highlights that administrative language in courts currently follows unwritten, hierarchical rules inherited from feudal and colonial systems.
- Thingification: Terms like Halalkhor or Coolie reduce individuals to their functions, a concept the report terms as the “thingification” of the individual.
- Constitutional Violation: The use of specific terms like Halalkhor and Scavenger is flagged as violative of the constitutional prohibition against caste-based discrimination (Article 15 and Article 17).
What does the Report Recommend?
The report asserts that language is the judiciary’s “first act of justice.” It suggests aligning administrative language with the Preamble’s promise of Dignity and the Constitution’s ethos.
Snapshot: Old vs. New Nomenclature
The report proposes replacing functional/caste-based terms with professional, gender-neutral titles:
