chennai words such as orphan and orphanage should disappear from english dictionary said the madras high court which suggested alternative terms such as home for children or home for protection of children befitting the honour and dignity of children justice s nagamuthu putting forward the proposal while hearing a case of property dispute directed two real estate dealers g elumalai and s gopal to pay rs 16000 each to varadhappa choultry orphanage at old washermenpet for their involvement in creating false land documents which became subject matter of the dispute before the court the amount will be used for stitching dresses for inmates of the home children who have been neglected by their parents and relatives and children who have lost their parents are only children in need of care and protection the state has a constitutional obligation to assure them a dignified life it is true that this task has been undertaken by a number of organisations established by pious and serviceoriented people but many of these organisations unfortunately or inadvertently call themselves orphanages lamented justice nagamuthu the judge was hearing a civil dispute over a 209acre plot of land at korattur in chennai on perusing records and subordinate court findings the judge found that a fraudulent claim based on concocted records had been made on the ownership and possession of the land leading to a prolonged litigation he said the duo should be made to face criminal proceedings for furnishing false records but added that he would instead make them pay the cost for having wasted valuable time of courts it is in this context that senior counsel for the actual owner of the property suggested cost to be paid in favour of either legal services authority or an orphanage counsel for the erring duo too agreed for the arrangement justice nagamuthu while asking them to pay rs 32000 to the orphanage said using the term might create a sense of insecurity and a feeling of loneliness in the mind of children noting that they would already be experiencing depressed thoughs and feelings he said we should not add to their depression by calling them as orphans i am of the view that naming these homes as orphanages may amount to stigmatizing them thereby adding to their agonies and creating negative emotions in the mind of the children it is time these organisations rendering good service think of shedding the name orphanage he said