- Friday, March 14, 2025
D Udaya Kumar also happens to be the son of a former DMK MLA. He said he does not see Tamil Nadu’s government’s move as an insult
By: India Weekly
THE controversy over the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government replacing the rupee symbol with the Tamil letter “Ru” (ரு) in promotional material for the state budget, has taken an interesting twist as the designer of the ₹ symbol D Udaya Kumar hails from the state and is the son of a former DMK MLA.
Kumar, a design expert and IIT Guwahati professor, who had visualised the ₹ symbol as part of a contest in 2009, told NDTV that while he was proud of his creation, but refused to attack the MK Stalin government.
The state government plans to remove the symbol from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 documents, which will be presented on Friday.
He said the decision did not impact him since a designer must be ready to face such challenges in his work.
Kumar came under the spotlight after Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai flagged that a Tamilian had designed the symbol, to target the state’s DMK government.
In a social media post, 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 Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA. How stupid can you become, Thiru @mkstalin?”
The DMK countered this by saying it is not against the symbol but seeks to promote the Tamil language.
Responding to Annamalai’s criticism, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said no law “opposed or stopped using Ru in Tamil.”
“Then why such anger,” he asked in a post on X.
Kumar, however, tried to downplay the controversy by saying he does not see Tamil Nadu’s government’s move as an insult.
He said that while designing the symbol he was focused on the task at hand and addressed the competition brief.
His father, N Dharmalingam, was an MLA before Uday Kumar was born.
‘Secessionist sentiments’
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Tamil Nadu government’s move signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride.
She said the party should have protested when the rupee symbol was adopted by the UPA in 2010. DMK was part of the ruling UPA alliance at the Centre.
The minister said that by erasing it now, “the DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth.”
The logo for the budget, released by the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday (13), carried ‘ru, ‘ the first letter of the Tamil word ‘Rubaai, ‘ which denotes the Indian currency in the vernacular language.
The logo also had the caption “everything for all,” indicating what the ruling DMK claims is its inclusive governance model.
“This is more than mere symbolism – it signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride. A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism,” Sitharaman said in a tweet on Thursday (13).
All elected representatives and authorities are sworn under the Constitution to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of our nation, she said, adding removing a national symbol from the State Budget documents goes against that very oath, weakening the commitment to national unity.
Historic perspective
Sharing a historical perspective, the finance minister said, the Tamil word ‘Rupaai’ itself has deep roots in the Sanskrit word ‘Rupya,’ meaning ‘wrought silver’ or ‘a worked silver coin.’
This term has resonated across centuries in Tamil trade and literature, and even today, ‘Rupaai’ remains the currency name in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, she said.
In fact, she said, several countries, including Indonesia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, officially use ‘Rupee’ or its ‘equivalent/derivatives’ as their currency name.
“Rupee symbol is internationally well-recognised and serves as a visible identity of India in global financial transactions. At a time when India is pushing for cross-border payments using UPI, should we really be undermining our own national currency symbol?” she wondered. (Agencies)
