Stalin Replaces ₹ With Tamil Rupee Symbol In Official Logo Amid Centre-State Tussle On Three-Language Policy

The Tamil Nadu government has replaced the official rupee symbol with the Tamil rupee letter in its official logo amid the ongoing dispute over asserting linguistic identity, reported The Indian Express.

The revised emblem, bearing the slogan ‘Ellorkkum Ellaam’ (Everything for Everyone), was unveiled by Chief Minister M K Stalin’s office on Thursday (13 March).

While the 2023 logo featured the rupee symbol as ₹, this year’s update reflects a deliberate shift in priority towards Tamil, perceiving the earlier symbol as inspired by Devanagari script, in which Hindi is written.

A source within the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) described the decision as a symbolic assertion of Tamil identity. "This year, we have given importance to Tamil over Devanagari script," the source said, quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

DMK spokesperson Savaranan Annadurai echoed the sentiment, stating, “We just wanted to give importance to Tamil this year.”

Tamil Nadu has long opposed the three-language formula advocated by the National Education Policy (NEP), maintaining its two-language system of Tamil and English. 

A senior DMK leader linked the logo change to recent parliamentary debates, where Tamil Nadu MPs were allegedly mocked. 

Referring to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s allegedly derogatory remarks on 10 March, the leader asked, "When our language and civilisation is being ridiculed even in the parliament, should we not try to preserve it?"

The decision was taken by the budget committee, headed by Finance Minister Thangam Tennarasu, and later approved by Chief Minister M K Stalin.

However, the irony of the decision is that the ₹ symbol was designed by a Tamil, D Udaya Kumar and was adopted by the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government. Moreover, Kumar is the son of a former DMK (Stalin's party) MLA, N Dharmalingam.