Language Row: Tamil Nadu Drops Rupee Symbol '₹' In Official State Budget Logo; Replaces It With Tamil Letter For 'Ru'

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, Thangam Thennarasu, presented the state Budget for 2025-26 in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, March 14.

New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has replaced the Indian rupee symbol (₹) in official state budget logo, with Tamil letter for "Ru", a move that might escalate the ongoing language row in the state. In Tamil language Rubai means rupee, thus Ru is substitution for the Rupee.

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, Thangam Thennarasu, will present the state Budget for 2025-26 in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, March 14.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu CM MK shared on X a teaser to the state budget highlighting 'Dravidian Model’ and ‘TNBudget2025' hashtags.

சமூகத்தின் அனைத்துத் தரப்பினரும் பயன்பெறும் வகையில் தமிழ்நாட்டின் பரவலான வளர்ச்சியை உறுதி செய்திட…#DravidianModel #TNBudget2025 pic.twitter.com/83ZBFUdKZC — M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 13, 2025

Stalin is leading the opposition protest on the issue and has even termed the NEP a 'saffron policy'. Now, the Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has hit back at the ruling DMK minister while sharing a video of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who hails from Madurai.

Tamil Nadu leaders have consistently opposed NEP, arguing that it imposes a one-size-fits-all education model that does not align with the state’s policies and linguistic heritage. The DMK government has also refused to accept the Centre’s alleged “arm-twisting” tactics of withholding funds to force the adoption of NEP-aligned schemes.