Tamil Nadu Govt. Mandates Tamil Name Boards for Businesses

Chennai, Feb 6 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday set the ball rolling for changing the name boards of commercial establishments, shops, and enterprises in Tamil across the state.


Minister M P Swaminathan who chaired the second review meeting here along with senior government officials including Minister for Labour Welfare and Skill Development C V Ganesan appealed to the traders' community to ensure a smooth transition to Tamil name boards by the end of April.

Swaminathan, who holds the Tamil Development, Information, and Publicity portfolio, said the first meeting with the traders led by Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangam was held on November 2, 2023.


"This is the second such meeting being held today. I am happy to note that on February 2, in Erode some of the traders have already changed the name boards in Tamil. It is a welcome move, and we want that to replicate across the state," he told reporters.


"A campaign was held in Erode under this initiative and some of the traders have already replaced the old name boards with new ones in Tamil," he said.


Swaminathan cited a government order that stated that documents in government departments, files, and buildings should be in Tamil language.


Referring to the request made by the Traders' Federation that an awareness campaign appealing to their members to rename the name boards in Tamil would be conducted in every district before the end of March, Swaminathan said he has given instructions to them to take one more month to hold the exercise across the state.


"I have asked them to take one more month to conduct the awareness campaign across districts. That is by the end of April, please ensure a smooth transition to use Tamil name boards without the necessity of a government order", he added.