New Delhi, Sept 4: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in an advisory issued on Monday, instructed private TV news channels to use the constitutional term 'Scheduled Castes', instead of 'Dalits' while referring to the backward community.

The I&B Ministry's advisory is based on an order of the Bombay High Court, which has asked the government to ensure that the term Dalit is not used for referring to the communities included in the Scheduled Castes by the Constitution.

The advisory categorically mentions TV news channels, and not newspapers, magazines or digital portals. Here is what it states:

"It is accordingly advised that the media may refrain from using the nomenclature ‘Dalit’ while referring to members of the Scheduled Caste in compliance with the direction of the Bombay high court and the Constitutional term ‘Scheduled Caste’ in English and appropriate translation in other national languages should alone be used for all official transaction, matters, dealings, certificates, etc. for denoting the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes notified in the Presidential Orders issued under Article 341 of the Constitution of India."

The order of not referring to the Schedule Castes as Dalits was issued by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court earlier in the year, while hearing a petition which sought the use of term 'Scheduled Castes' only in official documents and publications.

Reacting to the I&B Ministry's advisory, BJP MP from Delhi, Udit Raj, who belongs to the SC community, said the term Dalit is neither derogatory nor demeaning. "It is associated with our identity," he told reporters.

Congress veteran and Dalit leader PN Punia also expressed apprehensions over the order, saying the term Dalit is a not a new coinage and has been used to unite the exploited section of our society since the pre-Independence days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 04, 2018 10:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).