Chennai | The Tamil Nadu government, led by Chief Minister MK Stalin, has removed the national rupee symbol from its state budget logo, replacing it with the Tamil letter for ‘Ru’. This move comes amid the ongoing three-language policy debate and the state’s opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The decision marks a significant departure from convention, as this is the first time any state has opted to replace the rupee symbol with a regional script. While the Tamil Nadu government has not officially commented on the change, the move has sparked political reactions.
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Narayanan Thirupathy, a BJP spokesperson, criticized the decision, stating that the rupee symbol is widely recognized as a national symbol of India. Speaking to NDTV, he said the ruling DMK’s move reflects its intent to differentiate Tamil Nadu from the rest of the country.
The development comes in the wake of the Centre withholding ₹573 crore in education assistance under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) due to Tamil Nadu’s refusal to implement key provisions of NEP 2020, particularly the three-language policy. Under the PM SHRI scheme, states are required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre to implement NEP in exchange for central funding. Tamil Nadu has been firm in its stance against the three-language formula, advocating for the existing two-language system instead.
As political tensions rise over language and education policies, the symbolic change in the budget logo further underscores the state government’s commitment to preserving Tamil linguistic identity.