Puducherry shop names to be in Tamil: CM

Puducherry chief minister N Rangasamy on Tuesday said that the government would issue circulars to all shops and establishments in the Union territory, directing them to display their names in Tamil. The directive by the leader of All India NR Congress, an ally of the National Democratic Alliance, comes amid a raging controversy over neighbouring state Tamil Nadu’s refusal to adopt the three-language formula proposed in the NEP Responding to a plea by Independent member G Nehru alias Kuppusamy, who raised the issue during zero hour in the assembly, Rangasamy said, “Strict instructions will be issued through the circular, ensuring shop owners display Tamil versions of their establishment names on signboards.” Nehru stressed that there should be no leniency in the matter and urged the government to issue circulars with strict directions to honour the Tamil language. The directive by the leader of All India NR Congress, an ally of the National Democratic Alliance, comes amid a raging controversy over neighbouring state Tamil Nadu’s refusal to adopt the three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy 2020, which the DMK government views as the Centre’s way of imposing Hindi. The issue rocked the Tamil Nadu assembly session last week after chief minister MK Stalin replaced the rupee symbol with Tamil alphabet for the logo of the state budget 2025-26.