‘ரூ’ made into big news by those who dislike Tamil: Stalin

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Sunday contended that incorporating Tamil alphabet ‘ரூ’ in the logo for Budget for 2025-26 was to assert the State government’s language policy. He further charged that it was made into ‘big news’ by “those who did not like the Tamil language.”

“That was nothing. I had released the logo for the Budget. We incorporated ‘ரூ’ to show how assertive we are in our language policy. That was it. But, those who did not like Tamil, they made it into big news!” said Mr. Stalin.

In a video clip of the Ungalil Oruvan Q&A posted on his social media handle, he recalled having pleaded with the Centre over several demands, including releasing of funds towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, disaster management, school education, among others.

“The Union Finance Minister, who did not respond to all those, has spoken about this. Even she has mentioned ‘ரூ’ in many of her posts. Everyone uses the simple ‘Rs.’ in English to denote rupees,” Mr. Stalin said. “In all, our Budget as well as Tamil are a hit nationally,” he said.

To a query on the preparations for the State Budget, Mr. Stalin said inputs from members of the Chief Minister’s economic advisory committees, responses from the grassroots of the society, and case studies from other States and countries were considered. Ministers and officials brainstormed for several days in the evenings in the Secretariat to finalise the State Budget for 2025-26, he said.

Citing the budget coverage reports of many newspapers, including The Hindu and The Hindu BusinessLine, Mr. Stalin said feedback from various sections of society underline the response to the Budget. He also recalled how he took feedback from social media while finalising the Budget for 2025-26.

When he came across the news that Telangana was proposing to allow members of the third gender in regulating traffic, Mr. Stalin said: “I thought we should do the same in Tamil Nadu too and that is how we decided to induct them in the Home Guards.”

Rejecting criticism from various opposition parties, Mr. Stalin said: “If the criticism is constructive, we can consider it. If they are making criticism with only negativity, it only shows their angst against the government.”

Pointing out that the debts were increasing between 2011 and 2021, Mr. Stalin said it had come down since 2021. Borrowing was inevitable for any government, he contended and further said his government was using it as an investment for future generations.

As for what was he plans to do next, Mr. Stalin said he would depute Ministers and officials to ensure that the announcements in the Budget were implemented on time. Besides, there was also a need to raise his voice to obtain the funds due to the State and against the proposed delimitation process too, he added.