In Tamil Nadu, change of regime often means change of scheme names

Published 12 August 2026 · politics

Changes in nomenclature of schemes, government buildings, or streets are not new to Tamil Nadu, especially when there is a regime change in the State

Changes in nomenclature of schemes, government buildings, or streets are not new to Tamil Nadu, especially when there is a regime change in the State. This explains the spate of renaming of schemes by the current Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led government headed by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay. Prominent among the schemes whose titles have been changed are: “free distribution of goats/sheep,” launched by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government in 2011, into “Vetri Magalir Goat Rearing Scheme” and “free distribution of laptops to students” into “Vetri Laptop Scheme.” The “Kalaignar Veedu Vazhangum Thittam,” introduced by the DMK regime during 2006-11, underwent the first change as the “Chief Minister’s Solar-Powered Green Houses Scheme,” and it was carried out by the AIADMK government during 2011-16. When the DMK was back in the office in 2021, the scheme came to be known as “Kalaignar Kanavu Illam Thittam”; now, it will be called “Vetri Veedu Thittam.” As for the flagship scheme of the previous regime of the DMK, “Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai” (KMUT), the idea is to rename it “Madhippumigu Magalir Thittam.” The prefix “Kalaignar” has already been dropped in some official messages. At the time of Independence, the Congress, which was the ruling party both at the all-India level and in the State, was not averse to the idea of changing the names of schemes, roads, and other public places.

However, the party did not rush through the process. In fact, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, according to The Nehru Archive, wrote in August 1962 to then Governor of Uttar Pradesh Biswanath Das not to permit the renaming of Deer Park in Sarnath which, he said, “is full of history and is associated closely with the Buddha.” The 1950s saw the spirit of nationalism and sub-nationalism becoming the predominant factor in the political discourse. The Congress, which ruled Tamil Nadu between 1946 and 1967 at a stretch, had deliberated, for years, over the question of changing the nomenclature of the State and the capital: from Madras to Tamil Nadu and Chennai, respectively. The main reason why the ruling party took time was that it did not want to give space to fissiparous tendencies, which had been in operation in the State. Eventually, the Congress had decided to use the terms Tamil Nadu and Chennai in the State government’s communication in Tamil. Following the DMK’s rise to power in 1967, the party went into top gear with regard to the nomenclature change after its founder C.N. Annadurai died in February 1969. Mount Road was named Anna Salai after him, so was a host of places and schemes. Gradually, the name of his successor, M. Karunanidhi, came to be used. When the AIADMK’s founder M.G. Ramachandran became Chief Minister in 1977, his regime did as much as it could in the arena of change of names.