Invisibility of Female Street Names in India

Abstract

The aim of this article is to offer an analysis of the invisibility of women street names in select Indian cities. This study is comprised of four Indian cities, each one representing the northern (Delhi), southern(Chennai), eastern (Kolkata) and western (Mumbai) parts of India based on the highest population (Census of India, 2011). These cities have a background of different historical circumstances, diverse political influences, skewed sex ratios and varied population characteristics that make them a good representative sample for analyzing street names. The role of law and law-making surrounding the naming of streets is examined through this lens of political, social and historic divisions of these cities in India. This paper then proceeds to examine the guidelines issued by these cites that provide specifications for change of name of the street. The process for naming and renaming in these cities is as easy as moving a proposal with the state government stating the suggested name of the street accompanied by a brief write up about the accomplishments of the individual whose name is proposed- and the disproportionate number of street names of femalesvsends out the message of the non-recognition of their achievements.
 The naming of streets as a political choice with traces of the legal history of the city is explored from the ancient background upto the twentieth century spur of ‘reclaiming’ India by renaming streets. When read together with the denial of public spaces to women leads to the conclusion that the exclusion and bias of leaving out female names is symbolic of the visual aspects of the roles that women play in society. The present article is probably one of the first such attempts in scholarly literature that looks at female street names in India