Tamil Nadu replaces rupee symbol from Budget in big language row escalation

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, March 13, 2025: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, escalating the language row with the central government, dropped the official rupee symbol with the Tamil letter for ‘ru’ from ‘rubai’ (rupees in Tamil) for the state budget 2025-26.

Stalin shared on X a teaser for the state budget, which will be presented on March 14 in the state assembly, saying: “To ensure the widespread development of Tamil Nadu to benefit all sections of society...”

Along with hashtags ‘Dravidian Model’ and ‘TNBudget2025’ the logo for the budget was conspicuously missing the official Rupee symbol, which is inspired by the Hindi alphabet for ‘R’.

In the previous two budgets, the state had used the rupee symbol for its logos.

Even the 2023-24 budget prominently showed the symbol, which was designed by a professor at IIT-Guwahati, who incidentally is the son of a DMK leader.

This is the first time a state rejected the national currency symbol. The decision comes amidst the Tamil Nadu government’s resistance against NEP and the three-language formula.

However, DMK spokesperson A Saravanan said it was not the state rejecting the official rupee symbol, but an attempt to promote the Tamil language with the usage of the letter ’ru’.

‘STUPID OR RIDICULOUS?’

BJP state president K Annamalai blasted Chief Minister Stalin for the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to replace the rupee symbol.

Schooling Stalin about the design of the rupee symbol, Annamalai wrote: “The DMK government’s State Budget for 2025-26 replaces the rupee symbol designed by a Tamilian, which was adopted by the whole of Bharat and incorporated into our currency.”

Adding that Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA, Annamalai asked, “How stupid can you become Mr MK Stalin?”

Talking to India Today TV, he said that Stalin has made the "Tamil people a laughingstock of the nation."

AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said the Chief Minister can’t act stupid and instigate people in the name of state’s rights.

Stalin was slammed by BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya, too, for replacing the rupee symbol. “Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam is an Indian academic and designer, son of a former DMK MLA, who designed the Indian rupee sign, which was accepted by Bharat. Chief Minister MK Stalin is insulting Tamilians by dropping the sign from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 document. Just how ridiculous can one get?” Malviya wrote in a post on X.