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Amid locking horns with the Centre over the three-language policy and delimitation, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced that it will build ‘Agaram - Museum of Languages’ at the Madurai World Tamil Sangam campus.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu presented the MK Stalin government's budget for 2025-26. According to reports, the museum will showcase the pluralistic nature of Indian languages and serve as an educational hub celebrating linguistic heritage, especially Tamil’s classical legacy.
A report by Indian Today said the museum will also document the languages spoken by South Indian tribal communities and trace the evolution of Tamil from rock paintings to inscriptions, prints, and Tamil computing.
The move comes a day after the Stalin-led DMK government replaced the official rupee symbol with the Tamil letter ‘Ru’ (Rubai in Tamil), a move that drew criticism from the Opposition.
The ‘three language formula’ is at at the heart of the flashpoint between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre. Three-language policy is supposed to be based on the choices of states, regions and of the student provided two of the three languages are native to India. It does not mandate Hindi as part of the three-language formula. However, according to the Tamil Nadu government, it is a backdoor attempt to impose Hindi.
The state's Finance Minister on Friday listed new initiatives to promote Tamil language as part of the Budget. These efforts aim to strengthen cultural identity and ensure the language finds prominence in educational, administrative, and official communication domains.
He World Tamil Olympiad will also be held annually. The event will aim at celebrating the richness of Tamil language and literature, fostering global academic exchange and cultural pride.
Tamil Nadu's refusal to implement key aspects of NEP 2020, particularly the three-language formula, has resulted in the Centre withholding Rs 573 crore in central education assistance under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
The Budget assumes significance as Tamil Nadu goes to the polls next year.
