‘Dangerous mentality …’, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raised questions on changing the symbol of rupee in Tamil Nadu – Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Raised Questions On Changing The Symbol of Rupee in Tamil Nadu Ntc

The matter of removing the official symbol ‘₹’ of Rs from the state budget 2025-26 documents by the Tamil Nadu government is getting caught up. The BJP is constantly targeting the state government for this. Now Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has strongly protested on this issue. He questioned that if the DMK had a problem with the symbol of the rupee, then why did he not object to its official adoption in 2010, when it was part of the UPA government?

In a post on X, the Finance Minister said, “The DMK government has allegedly removed the official rupee symbol ‘₹’ from the documents of Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26, which will be introduced tomorrow. If the DMK has problems with ‘₹’, why did he not oppose it in 2010, when it was officially adopted under the Congress-led UPA government, when it was officially adopted by the DMK center. It was a part of the coalition.

‘₹ is well identified at the international level’

He added, “Apart from this, the roots of Tamil word ‘Rupai’ (ரூபாய்) are deep in the Sanskrit word ‘Rupee’, which means ‘coined silver’ or ‘silver coin’. The word has been echoing in Tamil trade and literature for centuries and even today the name of Mudra has remained ‘Rupai’ in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. In fact, Indonesian, Maldivas and Sri Lanka, Mauritis, Mauritius and Sri Lanka have remained. Many countries, including ‘Rupee’ or its ‘equivalent/derivatives’ are used as their currency name. The symbol of the rupee ‘₹’ is well -known and acts as a visible identity of India in global financial transactions at a time when India is really emphasizing its own national currency.

‘This is a sign of a dangerous glory’

Nirmala Sitharaman said, “All elected representatives and officials take oath under the Constitution to maintain the sovereignty and integrity of our nation. Removing the national symbol like ‘₹’ from the state budget documents is against the same oath that weakens the commitment to national unity. It is much more than symbolism. Promotion.

Rupee symbol removed amid language dispute

It is worth noting that this issue has come under the backdrop of language dispute between DMK -led Tamil Nadu government and BJP -led NDA government at the Center. The DMK has argued that the Center wants to ‘impose’ the Hindi on Tamil Nadu through the implementation of the 3-language formula in the NEP and insisted that its government in the state will not follow it, but will remain on its decades-old 2-language policy of Tamil and English. In NEP 2020, a three-language formula recommends that students learn three languages, of which at least two should be the native language of India. Hindi is not specially mentioned in this. This formula applies to both government and private schools, which gives states to choose the language without imposing any language.

According to a government portal, the symbol of the rupee is a mixture of Devanagari “Ra” and Roman Capital “R”, with two parallel horizontal straps at the top that represent the national flag and the “equal” mark. It said, “The Indian rupee mark was adopted by the Government of India on July 15, 2010.”