Sanskrit gets crores, Tamil gets crocodile tears: Stalin slams Centre
The issue has sparked outrage among Tamil scholars and activists, who see the funding gap as a deliberate neglect of Tamil’s cultural and linguistic significance
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has sharply criticised the Union government for its skewed funding priorities, accusing it of favouring Sanskrit while neglecting Tamil and other South Indian classical languages.
In a fiery post on X, Stalin highlighted RTI data that revealed Sanskrit received a staggering Rs 2,532.59 crores for promotion between 2014–15 and 2024–25, while Tamil, the first language to be designated as classical in 2004, was allocated less than 5 per cent of that amount.
'Fake love for Tamil'
“Sanskrit gets the crores, Tamil and other South Indian languages get nothing but crocodile tears,” Stalin wrote, accusing the Centre of showing “fake love” for Tamil.
The RTI data underscores a stark disparity: the combined funding for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia over the same period was a mere Rs 147.56 crores. Tamil, despite its global reach and vibrant literary tradition, received a fraction of Sanskrit’s allocation, with Kannada and Telugu each getting just 0.5 per cent and Odia and Malayalam a paltry 0.2 per cent.
Also read: Why Stalin's stance on Hindi is neither idle nor without basis
According to 2011 Census, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia, and Kannada speakers constitute 21.99 per cent of India’s 1.2 billion population, while Sanskrit, with only 24,821 speakers (less than 0.002 per cent), dominates funding. Other major languages like Hindi (43.63 per cent of the population) and Urdu (4.19 per cent) also received significantly less, with a combined Rs 1,317.96 crores allocated to Hindi, Urdu, and Sindhi.
Shocking
S Sujatha, a teacher from Tiruvannamalai, expressed dismay over the disparity. “Tamil is a living language, widely spoken and adapted to modern contexts. It’s shocking that Sanskrit, used primarily in religious contexts, gets such disproportionate funding,” she told The Federal. She also flagged the lack of Tamil teachers in Kendriya Vidyalayas in Tamil Nadu, forcing students to study Sanskrit or Hindi instead.
Prof Deiva Sundaram, a Tamil linguistics expert, echoed these concerns, noting that Sanskrit is spoken in only five villages in India and is largely confined to religious use. “No amount of funding can make Sanskrit a living, spoken language,” he told The Federal. He criticised both BJP and Congress governments for prioritising Sanskrit, with allocations intensifying under the current regime.
The issue has sparked outrage among Tamil scholars and activists, who see the funding gap as a deliberate neglect of Tamil’s cultural and linguistic significance. With Tamil Nadu’s rich literary heritage and global diaspora, Stalin’s remarks have reignited demands for equitable treatment of India’s classical languages.
False propaganda: BJP
Reacting to the post by chief minister Stalin, BJP leader K Annamalai said the strong sentiments of lakhs of Tamil people who gathered at the Murugan Devotees’ Conference in Madurai, in protest against the DMK's consistent anti-Hindu stance, has shaken the DMK and Stalin.
Also read: Why is DMK fighting ‘language war’ at full throttle? | Talking Sense With Srini
He accused Stalin of deploying a few hired voices and started spreading false propaganda about the language-wise fund allocation and said that he has clarified about the allocation multiple times.
"Whenever the people of Tamil Nadu openly express their dissatisfaction and anger towards the DMK government, the DMK follows its age-old practice of faking Tamil pride and inciting division. During the eight years from 2006 to 2014, when you were part of the Union Government and held a ministerial post while indulging in globally condemned corruption, the central government you were part of allocated ₹675.36 crore for Sanskrit. For Tamil, it was only ₹75.05 crore. Where were these hired voices back then?" questioned Annamalai.
He pointed out that the School Education Department of Tamil Nadu government had spent Rs 11.68 crores for the development of the Sanskrit language last year and sought explanation for the same from Stalin.
