In a significant move ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, the DMK government has omitted the national symbol of the Rupee '₹' from the 2025-26 budget. Instead, they replaced it with the Tamil 'ரூ' symbol, representing rupees in Tamil. By doing so, the Tamil Nadu government overlooked the fact that a Tamil, Udayakumar Dharmalingam, originally designed the ₹ symbol. Interestingly, Udayakumar Dharmalingam's father was also a leader within the DMK.
Udayakumar Dharmalingam, an Indian scholar and designer, was born on October 10, 1978, in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, and currently resides in Chennai. He works as an Assistant Professor at IIT Guwahati.
Source: aajtak
Udayakumar’s father, N Dharmalingam, was a DMK legislator. When Udayakumar won the competition to design the Rupee symbol, N Dharmalingam expressed immense pride, declaring it a moment of honor for Tamil Nadu. His son had brought glory to the region.
Udayakumar crafted the ₹ symbol by merging Devanagari 'र' with Roman 'R', drawing inspiration from the Indian tricolor. The design aims to distinctly set apart the Indian currency from other global currencies.
On July 15, 2010, the Government of India unveiled this design to the public. Selected through an open competition organized by the Ministry of Finance, it stood out among 3,331 entries, where Udayakumar's concept emerged victorious among five finalists. He elaborated that the design mirrors the Indian flag's essence, with a horizontal line signifying equality and national pride.
This contribution by Udayakumar significantly elevated the Indian Rupee to a global identity.
Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai criticized the DMK government's budget for 2025-26 for changing the Rupee symbol, originally devised by a Tamil seen across India and integrated into our currency. The symbol's creator, Thiru Udayakumar, is the son of a former DMK legislator. How thoughtlessly foolish, Thiru Stalin.
BJP leader Tamilisai suggested that Mr. Stalin should first consider changing his name since he altered the Rupee symbol.
