Who is Uday Kumar Dharmalingam? The designer of Indian Rupee symbol, Let’s know the details
The DMK government of Tamil Nadu used a Tamil letter instead of the symbol of the Indian rupee ₹ in the 'logo' released for the budget for the financial year 2025-26, which has created controversy. BJP has strongly opposed this decision of Stalin's government. Interestingly, the rupee symbol which has been removed by the Tamil Nadu government was designed by none other than the son of the DMK leader himself.
Designer of Indian Rupee Symbol: Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam
The rupee symbol was designed by DMK leader's son Uday Kumar Dharmalingam. Uday Kumar's father's name was N Dharmalingam, who has been a DMK MLA. Uday Kumar Dharmalingam is a well-known academician and designer of the country. He is working as an Assistant Professor at IIT Guwahati. When Uday Kumar won the competition by designing the rupee symbol, his father N Dharmalingam said that it was a proud moment for him. His son has increased the pride of Tamil Nadu. Uday had designed the rupee symbol by combining the Devanagari ‘र’ and the Roman 'R'.
P Chidambaram had unveiled it
The logo of the Indian currency rupee was unveiled by Tamil Nadu's big leader P Chidambaram. At this time DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu and there was a Congress government at the Center. Even today both these parties are in alliance. Both of them also fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together. However, now MK Stalin has used the Tamil word ரூ instead of this symbol. BJP and other parties have targeted DMK on this.
New symbol used in Tamil Nadu’s budget
In Tamil Nadu's budget, the first letter of the Tamil word ‘Rupaiya’ (ரூபாய்) has been used in place of the Indian Rupee symbol. In Tamil, the Indian currency is referred to as ‘Rupaiya’. The logo also says 'Everything for Everyone', which indicates the claim of the inclusive model of the ruling DMK rule in the state.
Annamalai furious over the decision of the Stalin government
State BJP chief K Annamalai has criticized this move of the Stalin government. He said, "The DMK government's state budget for the financial year 2025-26 replaces the rupee symbol designed by a Tamil, which has been adopted by the whole of India." He said in a post on social media, "Tiru Uday Kumar, who designed the rupee symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA." He also shared the 'logo' of Tamil Nadu's budget for the financial year 2024-25, which had the symbol of the Indian rupee.
