*Everyone loves their mother, but how long should she wait for a spot on paper?

*How many years will it take for her to reclaim her existence with equality?

“What’s in the name? “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,”, said Juliet. This quote from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is unarguably one of the most iconic dialogues in classical literature. It conveys that the natural characteristics of an individual are more important than his/her artificial or acquired characteristics. As poetic a statement as it certainly is, it does not go in tune with the significance of a name in marking the identity of an individual in his or her societal transactions.

To put it differently, ‘name is an intrinsic element of identity’. This statement was made by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar in one of is famous judgment in 2021.The name is very important in our society. There are different methods of writing names all over the world, and in some countries the father’s last name is put before the name, while in some countries the mother’s last name is applied. In India, it is customary to put the surname of the mother in some of the southern and north-eastern states.We are going to have a discussion today about the subject of whether it is necessary to put the mother’s name along with the father’s name in a person’s name.Life does not come with a manual; it comes with a mother. The person’s existence comes from the mother. The mother raises the baby in the womb for nine months. She endures numerous pains while giving birth. She makes countless sacrifices. It is well to raise the children, but it is very unfortunate that society denies the existence of the mother when the baby is born.When the baby gets a name, only his father’s name is put in front of him or her, not the mother’s.As before said ‘name is an intrinsic element of identity’, we denied that mothers to be part of a child’s identity.Mother is very important to children. She is there whole world. The mother will not be honored just by giving her a place in our hearts; she should also get a place on paper. She should be part of a child’s identity.

It is the fundamental right of every mother to have the mother’s name in her child’s name. The constitution of India has given the fundamental right to equality to every citizen of the country under Article 14. All citizens are equal before the law. But in this very country, this equality is being denied to the mother.There is no such law in our country that says that only the father’s name should be added as a middle name in a person’s name. That means each citizen is free to choose his or her middle name, whether it’s the father’s or mother’s name. But in our patriarchal society, how many of us chose our mother’s name as a middle name over our father’s name? On the flyIn 2006, the Maharashtra Government Department of Women and Child Welfare issued a GR stating that if a woman is widow or divorce, she has the right to use her name as the middle name in her child’s name rather than her husband’s name.Recently, in 2022, the Kerala High Court held that a person has a right to include his mother’s name alone in the birth certificate, identity certificates and other documents. The court quoted that the children of unwed mothers and the children of rape victims could also live in this country with the same fundamental rights of privacy, liberty, and dignity. The Kerala High Court district ordered the government to bring out a separate form that does not contain a field requiring the name and other details of a person’s father.We say that if both parents are required to give birth to a baby, why is there this discrimination between names, and why shouldn’t parents have an equal place in the name?Shramjeevi Sanghatna has taken up the “Aai Sanman” (Respect Mother) campaign with the goal of raising awareness about the issue at all levels of society. As a result of this campaign, more than 40 gramm panchayats in Thane and Palghar districts have passed resolutions in gramm sabha to include the mother’s name in front of the name of every child born within their gramm panchayat jurisdiction.And they have sent proposals to the government demanding that to make such a law for giving mothers their rights and dignity. Shramjeevi Sanghatana demands the government that in every government and private document, identity or residential document, the name of the mother along with the name of the father should be put in force before the name of the person, as his or her middle name.Therefore, there should be four columns instead of three. 

NAME

Mother’s Name

Father’s Name

Surname•

Every mother in this country is deprived of her right to equality and should get it at least in this Amrit Mahotsav (75th) year of independence.According to the Kerala High Court’s judgment, for an unwed woman and rape victim, and according to the Maharashtra government’s 2006 GR, for a widow and divorcee woman, the choice right the father’s name as a middle name is secured with that woman or her child.

Apart from these exceptions, the mother’s name should be put in her child’s name. The father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the legend of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, women’s cricket legend Mitali Raj, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. Do these legends’ mothers make no contribution to their success?If the mother of our country had to get the same status earlier in our society, the name would be preceded by •

Mahatma Mohandas Putlibai Karamchand Gandhi.  

Jawaharlal Swaroopa Rani Motilal Nehru,• 

Amitabh Teji Harivansh Rai Bachchan,• Sachin Rajini Ramesh Tendulkar,

Mitali Leela Durai Raj , 

Devendra Sarita Gangadhar Rao Fadnavis, • 

Eknath Gangubai Sambaji Shinde, and• Narendra Hiraben Damodardas Modi.

As a result, the names of these great personalities’ mothers name would be on everyone’s lips.It is because of the mother that her children exist, just as it is because of the mother that this earth exists, Such mother must have the right to her existence. Even after leaving this world, her name must remain alive in the name of her children as the father’s name. This battle is not about whether the mother is great or the father, but the parents are equal, so the mother should also get the same status on every document.Everyone loves their mother, but how long should she wait for a spot on paper? How many years will it take for her to reclaim her existence with equality?

Advocate  Sneha Vidyutlata Dube Pandit, Karyadhykasha ,Shramajivi Sanghatana, views are personal