From 1996, Karunannidhi changed the name of Madras from English and other foreign languages to Chennai. He opened farmer's markets in many parts of Tamil Nadu so that farmers could sell their produce in the market and benefit directly. He opened the Samathuvapuram (Equality Village) schemes in 145 places in Tamil Nadu in order to forget and to eliminate caste-based segregation. Local elections were held across Tamil Nadu with 33% reservation for women. His government has implemented a scheme to run private minibuses to facilitate the people of the slums to reach the surrounding urban areas easily. A scheme was implemented for the first time in Tamil Nadu to provide free bus pass so that school students would not be burdened to travel for their education.