 bill no 42  of 2007 the prohibition on use of caste or religious title bill, 2007 byshri l rajagopal, mpa billto prohibit the use of caste name or title relating to caste or religion as prefix or suffix with names by the citizens and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (a) this act may be called the prohibition on use of caste or religious title  act,2007short title, extent and commencement(b) it extends to the whole of india5(c) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2  in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—10(i) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases the central government;(ii) "document" includes letter head, name plate, visiting card, educational certificate or paper relating to rights in or over property; and(iii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act53 no person, or body of individuals or association or institution shall write or indicatecaste or any title relating to his caste or religion with his name on any documentprohibition of use of caste name or title relating to caste or religion104 no establishment, organisation or institution whether owned or controlled by theappropriate government or a private company or institution whether incorporated or not shall require any person to write or indicate his caste or any title relating to his caste or religion in any of its documents or forms prescribed for the purposes of admission in educational institutions, grant of scholarship or employmentorganisations or institutions not to require any person to state his castename or titlerelating to his caste or religion in any of their documents exemptions5 the provisions of this act shall not apply to,—(i) any person who writes or indicates the name of his caste or title of his casteor religion in the form prescribed for the purpose of applying for or obtaining caste certificate from the competent authority of the appropriate government; and15(ii) any competent authority who requires any person to write or indicate hiscaste or any title relating to his caste or religion in the form prescribed for the purpose of issue of caste certificate to any person belonging to a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe or any other backward classes20explanation: for the purpose of this section, competent authority means suchofficer or authority as the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint as the competent authority for the purposes of issuing caste certificate6 after the commencement of this act, no person shall give a name to a new born babywhich signifies his caste or any title relating to his caste or religionprohibition   of use of caste name  or  title relating to caste or religion with the names of new born baby257 no document which has been issued or made prior to coming into force of this actshall be void on the ground of inconsistency with the provisions of this actsaving of documents issued or made prior to the commencement of the act penalty8 whoever acts in contravention of the provisions of this act shall be punished withimprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees or with bothpower to make rules309 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of this act statement  of  objects  and  reasonsindia is a secular country, our constitution aims to establish a classless and casteless society even after nearly six decades of independence, our dream of a casteless and classless society remains a dream the cherished objectives cannot be achieved unless there is a legislative framework to prohibit the use of caste name or any title relating to caste or religion in the names as prefix or suffix by the citizens from time to time, the casteism and the religious fundamentalism raise their ugly head and hampers the endeavour to build up a homogeneous society the divisive forces are continuously trying to divide the country along caste and religious lines by fomenting caste and religious feelings of the citizensthe use of caste titles, caste names and religious titles in all of their forms should be discouraged in order to strengthen the secularism and build up a homogeneous societythis bill seeks to achieve the above objectivesnew delhi;l rajagopalfebruary  23, 2007 memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 9 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of detail only the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto prohibit the use of caste name or title relating to caste or religion as prefix or suffix with names by the citizens and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri l rajagopal, mp)mgipmrnd—1149ls(s5)—19-03-2007