Nearly a year after the issue was raised, the University of Madras has provided degree certificates with the changed Tamil translation of a term in a postgraduate programme offered by the Madras School of Social Work (MSSW).
In 2021, MSSW, affiliated with the University, started a PG programme, ‘Master of Social Work in Disability and Empowerment’, and its first batch graduated in 2025. The university, as per its norm, had translated the name of the programme in Tamil as Iyalaamai mattrum Adhigaramalithal in the degree certificates it had issued to the students.
The Hindu, in an article in 2025, had reported that the term iyalaamai, which translates as disability, had caused consternation to disability rights activist and founder of Nethrodaya, C. Govindakrishnan. In a letter to the Higher Education Minister, he said that the institution “willfully degraded the differently abled community” in the Tamil translation of the degree certificate.
Following this, the University of Madras had withdrawn the students’ certificates and had given new certificates to the students with the term replaced to maatruthiran.
Welcoming the change Govindakrishnan said, “Issues with disabled must be dealt with dignity and respect. This is paramount. We are happy that the University has accepted and made the necessary changes. This should not be repeated in any university.”
Published – February 03, 2026 09:35 pm IST
