The Tamil Nadu government has replaced the rupee symbol (₹) with a Tamil letter for ‘ru’ – from ‘rubai’ (rupees in Tamil) – in the logo for the 2025-’26 state Budget, reported The Indian Express on Thursday. The change has triggered a political controversy.

The new logo, which reads “Ellorkkum Ellaam” (Everything for Everyone), was released by Chief Minister MK Stalin’s office on Thursday afternoon ahead of Friday’s Budget presentation in the Assembly.

The development came amid Tamil Nadu’s continued opposition to the three-language mandate in the National Education Policy. The three-language mandate refers to teaching students English, Hindi and the native language of a state. It was introduced in the first National Education Policy in 1968 and was retained in the new policy introduced in 2020.

Tamil Nadu follows a two-language system – Tamil and English.

Last year’s state Budget logo had featured the Indian rupee symbol, which combines elements of the Devanagari letter “र” and the Latin capital letter “R”.

Speaking about the development, Tamil Nadu Planning Commission Executive Vice Chairman J Jeyaranjan told ANI: “We don't want to use the Devanagri. That's all.”

An unidentified person linked to the chief minister’s office told The Indian Express: “This year we have given importance to Tamil over Devanagari script.”

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said: “We just wanted to give importance to Tamil this year.”

The decision was taken by the Budget committee headed by Finance Minister Thangam Tennarasu. The move was also approved by Stalin, according to The Indian Express.

“When our language and civilisation is being ridiculed even in the Parliament, should we not try to preserve it?” an unidentified Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader was quoted as asking, referring to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s remarks about Tamil Nadu MPs in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

On March 10, Pradhan said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was “dishonest and “ruining the future of the students of Tamil Nadu”.

“Their only job is to raise language barriers,” said the minister. “They are doing politics...They are undemocratic and uncivilised.”

Arun Nehru, DMK MP from Tamil Nadu said Pradhan had not just insulted his party but also “the Tamil people”.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have criticised the state government over the logo change.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai wrote on X: “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 Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA. How stupid can you become, Thiru MK Stalin?”

BJP publicity cell chief Amit Malviya also criticised the move. “Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam is an Indian academic and designer, son of a former DMK MLA, who designed the Indian rupee sign, which was accepted by Bharat,” he said in a social media post. “Chief Minister MK Stalin is insulting Tamilians by dropping the sign from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 document. Just how ridiculous can one get?”

BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan called the decision a result of the DMK’s “anti-national mindset”. She wrote: “Let the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister change his name into a Tamil name. To hide all the failures of his Govt this drama continues.”

The rupee symbol was designed by Udhay Kumar, a Tamil Nadu-based academic, and was officially adopted by the Indian government in 2010.