DMK flags Hindi on medicine covers, claims 3-language policy in Tamil Nadu

DMK leader TRB Rajaa shared photos of medicine covers from government hospitals and questioned why Hindi was being used alongside Tamil and English.

In Short

• Medicine covers in govt hospitals printed in Tamil, English and Hindi
• DMK alleges three-language policy in Tamil Nadu under Vijay govt
• Hindi signboards in Thoothukudi removed after controversy

The DMK on Monday alleged that the three-language policy was being implemented in Tamil Nadu under the Joseph Vijay-led government, citing instances of medicine covers at government hospitals carrying Hindi text alongside Tamil and English.

The DMK questioned the use of medicine covers printed in Hindi, alleging that the three-language formula was being introduced in the state despite Tamil Nadu’s longstanding two-language policy.

DMK leader TRB Rajaa shared photographs of medicine covers used at the Karur Government Hospital and Coimbatore Government Medical College Hospital, pointing out that medicines distributed to patients were being handed over in covers printed in three languages.

"It seems like the three-language policy is being implemented in Tamil Nadu hospitals too! First Karur, now the same situation in Coimbatore as well," Rajaa wrote on X.

According to the DMK, medicine covers used earlier at government hospitals carried text only in Tamil. The appearance of Hindi alongside Tamil and English has triggered questions within the party over whether the Centre's push for a three-language formula is making its way into government institutions in Tamil Nadu.

The controversy comes days after Hindi signboards on a highway in Thoothukudi district sparked a row.

Hindi lettering was subsequently removed from a newly installed signboard on the Sathankulam-Nazareth State Highway (SH-93) after the issue came to light.

The state government had said the inclusion of Hindi on the signboard was in violation of Tamil Nadu’s two-language policy. It also said the Assistant Divisional Engineer and

Assistant Engineer of the Highways Department responsible for the signboard had been suspended, with further departmental action initiated against them.

The latest controversy comes against the backdrop of Tamil Nadu’s firm opposition to the three-language formula. The state has traditionally followed a two-language policy of Tamil and English, with successive governments resisting attempts to introduce Hindi as an additional compulsory language.

- Ends