Centre Cheated Tamil Nadu Of Rs 2,150 Crore, Will Resist Three-Language Push: Thangam Thenarasu

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu on Friday lashed out at the Centre for failing to release Rs 2,150 crore in funds for the Samagra Shiksha scheme. He said the DMK government will not budge to the BJP government's pressure to implement the three-language policy.

TN Finance Minister Attacks Centre On Language Row

In his budget speech for the 2025-2026 financial year, Thenarasu said, "The Union government did not release ₹2,150 crore to the Tamil Nadu government due to the state's refusal to accept the three-language policy. The state government itself has released funds for this from its own financial resources,"

He mentioned that Tamil Nadu's two-language policy was a success and accused the Centre of "cheating" Tamil Nadu of Rs 2,150 crore in funds for the Samagra Shiksha scheme. Thenarasu told the Assembly that the state government has implemented student welfare schemes for past seven years.

"However, this year the centre cheated us by not releasing Rs 2,152 crores for not accepting NEP ,which encourages three-language system. So state is allocating its own funds..." he stated.

"Even at this critical juncture, people of Tamil Nadu have rallied behind the Chief Minister for standing firm on the bilingual policy... even at the cost of foregoing two thousand crore rupees," he added.

The DMK government has locked horns with the Centre over the language row. Adding fuel to the tensions, the Stalin government has replaced the rupee symbol,'₹', in its budget logo with Tamil letter 'ரு' (Ru), the first letter of Tamil word 'Rubaai'.

DMK Minister's Critical Words On Delimintation & Language Row

Tamil Nadu's Minister for IT and Digital Services, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, has said that the party remains steadfast in its stance, highlighting concerns ranging from tax distribution to disparities in population growth among states.

During a discussion at The Indian Express's Idea Exchange, Thiaga Rajan, a former state Finance Minister, pointed out the growing financial transfers from wealthier states to those with weaker economies. He noted that the disparity has been widening over time. "When this government came to power, for every Re 1 of total grants and schemes' taxes given to Tamil Nadu, UP got Rs 2.90. By 2024, it was Re 1 to Tamil Nadu, and Rs 4.35 to UP," he explained.

"When this government assumed office, for every rupee allocated to Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh received Rs 2.90. By 2024, the ratio had shifted to Re 1 for Tamil Nadu and Rs 4.35 for UP," he explained. Despite this, he argued that UP's per capita GDP relative to Tamil Nadu has declined. "How can we achieve equality if funds are continuously diverted without yielding results? Where does this lead us?" he questioned.

He then claimed that the country will not witness a growth if "the poor, high-population northern states don't see significant improvement in their per capita incomes and overall outcomes."

On the contentious issue of the NEP, Thiaga Rajan echoed the concerns of DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who has opposed the policy on linguistic grounds. "The core issue isn't whether Tamil Nadu adopts the NEP. It's whether states like UP and Bihar can effectively teach even one language to their children. Can they improve their educational outcomes?" he challenged.