More changes sought in laws on using parent’s name

The state government had last year issued a circular allowing schoolchildren to use their mother’s name as the middle and last name,instead of their father’s. Tilottama Reddy of Ahilyadevi High School for Girls says,“A mother’s name is as important as the father’s…. We have seen many women making use of the rule. If you notice,even the school-leaving certificates have the mother’s name mentioned on them.”

Also,the state government had passed a resoluton on July 3,2006 that made it mandatory for the name of the mother to be mentioned in all documents,including marksheets,school-leaving certificates and transfer certificates. Ujwala Patil,chairperson,Maharashtra State Board Of Secondary And Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) says,“The decision was brought into effect from July 3,2006. After that,every year,the certificates and marksheets have both the parents’ names.”

However,even if admissions at school level can be done with only mother’s name,admissions to many professional courses require the names of both parents,thereby posing a bit of a problem to a few single mothers.

Seema S,a single mother,says,“I had a very healthy separation from my husband and thus did not really face any difficulties during my children’s admission to colleges. However,there are lots of single women who have faced problems because of this rule. A domicile certificate for engineering as well as medical courses require father’s name. There needs to be an amendment in the law that can allow single mothers give only their names in such documents.”