Tamil Nadu Reaffirms Two-Language Policy In Budget, To Compensate For Centre-Withheld Funds Over NEP From State Exchequer

The language war between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government continued on Friday (14 March) morning when the state Finance Minister Dr Palanivel Thiagarajan presented the 2025-26 budget in the Assembly, NDTV reported.

Bringing up the ongoing 'language war' between Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Thiagarajan accused the BJP-led central government for "cheating" Tamil Nadu of Rs 2,150 crore.

The amount mentioned refers to the Samagra Shiksha scheme funds, which the Centre has held because Tamil Nadu is not ready to implement the National Education Policy's three-language formula, falsely calling it 'Hindi imposition'.

Today, the BJP decided to boycott the session, and the AIADMK walked out after they were informed they could not bring up accusations of a Rs 40,000 crore corruption scandal involving the state's liquor sales unit.

Thiagarajan started by referring to a statement made by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, asserting that the funds would be withheld until the allegations of 'Hindi imposition' are retracted and the NEP is enforced.

Chief Minister MK Stalin labeled this as "blackmail", triggering intense debates between the two. Thiagarajan announced this morning that the Tamil Nadu government would itself finance the deficit.

Regarding the bi-lingual policy where students are taught in both Tamil, their native language, and English, the Finance Minister stated that it has propelled the state to remarkable achievements. He further added that this policy is the reason for the global success of Tamils.

The comments are perceived as emphasising the DMK's uncompromising position on the 'Hindi imposition' controversy, a subject that, along with the delimitation issue, is expected to play a significant role in the upcoming year's Assembly election.

Notably, the Tamil Nadu government also replaced the official rupee logo, ₹, with the Tamil rupee letter in this year's budget documents. The move was described as secessionist by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.