Minister proposes heavy fine for non-Tamil name boards

“Tamil Development Department will not hesitate to paint black the name boards of commercial establishments that are not in Tamil. The department does not have the authority to levy fines on such commercial establishments violating the Government Order (GO), but we will propose heavy fines on such violating commercial establishments,” said Pandiarajan, in Chennai.

Ramadoss on Saturday tweeted that the name boards of shops and commercial establishments in the state are not in Tamil. Quoting the lines of famous Tamil poet Bharathidasan, Ramadoss said, “There is no Tamil in Tamil streets.”

He also said that Punjab government had passed orders that the name boards of all the commercial establishments should be in Punjabi and questioned when will this happen in Tamil Nadu despite the state government passed a GO in 1977 making the name boards of shops and commercial establishments in Tamil.

However, after the Minister announced that stern measures would be taken against commercial establishments for not complying to the GO, Ramadoss thanked the Minister. “I am happy that Minister has announced that state will take stern measures, but I will be really happy on the day when name boards of all the commercial establishments are in Tamil alone,” said Ramadoss in a tweet on Sunday.