Chennai, March 13 (The Hindu Bureau) – Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has used Tamil [alphabet], one of the 15 languages, in the Indian currency. It is not against the Constitution, an official source said
Chennai, March 13 (The Hindu)- Stepping up Tamil Nadu’s campaign to promote Tamil, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday (March 13, 2025) released a promotional logo for the State Budget 2025-26, replacing the Indian currency symbol ‘₹’ with the Tamil letter ‘ரூ’ (roo) to denote ‘roobai’ (the Tamil word for the currency). The Budget is to be presented in the Assembly on Friday (March 14, 2025).
The logo, shared on the official X page of the Chief Minister, also carried the slogan, ‘Ellarkum Ellam’ (everything for everyone), conveying the idea of inclusiveness.
According to official sources, the Tamil Nadu Government, in its Budget documents, has been using the Tamil word ‘roobai’ and the English word ‘rupees’.
“A few logo designs were sent for the Chief Minister’s approval. He has chosen one and shared it on his social media,” a source said.
“The Chief Minister has used Tamil [alphabet], one of the 15 languages, in the Indian currency. It is not against the Constitution,” the official source added.
Annamalai criticises move
Meanwhile, BJP State president K. Annamalai criticised the DMK Government for replacing ‘₹’, which is a blend of Devanagari ‘ra’ for rupiah and the Roman ‘R’ for rupees in English.
In a post on X, Mr. Annamalai said, “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. Thiru Udaya Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA?”
The current symbol ‘₹’ was designed by D. Udaya Kumar, who won a national contest to design a symbol for the Indian rupee in 2010. He is the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam, who won from the Rishivandiyam seat in the 1971 elections.
In a press conference, J. Jeyaranjan, Executive Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission, claimed the Tamil letter ‘ரூ’ (roo) was used only to “avoid using Devanagari.”
Reacting to Mr. Jeyaranjan’s comments, Mr. Annamalai in a post on X, said: “Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has surrounded himself with such nincompoops. Mere advertisements and meaningless decisions to hide incompetence: summary of the last four years of the DMK.”
He also shared a picture of Mr. Udaya Kumar and his family members with former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and said: “What the father endorsed, the son rejects.”
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has used Tamil [alphabet], one of the 15 languages, in the Indian currency. It is not against the Constitution, an official source said
The logo shared on the official X page of the Chief Minister.
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D. Udaya Kumar narrates how he won the contest to design a symbol for Indian rupee
By R K Roshni/The Hindu
Chennai, March 13. Udaya Kumar was just a day or two away from starting his new job in the Department of Design at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, in 2010 when he won a national contest to design a symbol for the Indian rupee. His design, which incorporated elements of the Devanagari and Roman scripts, was selected from among hundreds of entries to represent the Indian currency.
Mr. Udaya Kumar, who is now associate professor and head of the Department of Design at the Guwahati IIT, was speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of Ka Cha Ta Tha Pa, the ongoing National Calligraphy Festival of Kerala, at Shanghumughom here on Tuesday.
Mr. Udaya Kumar says the competition guidelines were very specific that the rupee symbol should respect Indian culture and tradition. India was a very diverse country and no one thing could really represent it, he felt. How to incorporate this diversity in the symbol for the currency was a big challenge.
He spent a lot of time researching, from history to the modern times. Initially, he started with graphic elements, but then moved to scripts for he thought it could best identify the country. The Devanagari script, he thought, was especially unique.
Devanagari
After a lot more exploration and research, he hit upon the Devanagari ‘Ra’ for rupiah and the Roman ‘R’ for rupees in English and blended them. The symbol thus got an identity that was distinctly Indian but universal at the same time.
The days following his win were something he would cherish all his life. Since then, Mr. Udaya Kumar has designed logos for a number of institutes and organisations such as the IIT, Hyderabad, and the National Testing Agency.
Research
He says it changed his thinking and opened his mind in terms of curriculum and teaching. It was then that he decided to pursue his Master’s and PhD in Design from the IIT, Mumbai. He Mr. Udaya Kumar, who has a degree in Architecture, says he has always been sure that he wanted to become a designer and a teacher.
His desire was to work with Indian scripts, particularly Tamil, his mother tongue, and contribute more to it. His MDes projects and PhD were also on the Tamil script. Though it has been difficult to pursue his passion being based in Guwahati, he tries it whenever possible.
The Design department at the IIT, Guwahati, he says, is unique; that was the first IIT to start the BDes (Bachelor of Design) programme and PhD in Design.
And it is here that he tries to understand and motivate students and get them to think out of the box and make changes in society for the better.
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