TN Government’s consultation reiterates the use of Tamil as the official language of the department

Secretariat in Chennai. File | Picture source: B. JothiRamalingam

The Tamil Nadu government has issued an consultation to senior officials and department heads, reaffirming the existing regulations and orders for the use of Tamil as the official language in all government offices.

The letter was given to other chief secretary, main secretary, secretariat, regional collectors and department heads, urging them to comply with existing instructions to use Tamil in all official communications and operations.

According to the Official Languages ​​Act, Tamil is the official language of the Tamil Nadu government.

An consultation issued by V. Rajaraman, Secretary of the Ministry of Development and Information of Tamil on April 14, stated that previous orders specify that government orders should be issued only in Tamil and should also be notified in Tamil.

Communications sent by the Office of the Head of the Department to the Government and other offices shall be in Tamil. The consultation said that, besides exempt cases, all other letters, communications and letters should also be in Tamil.

The letters received by Tamil in Tamil should be replied in Tamil; the consultation states that notes about them should also be in Tamil. It added that government employees should only sign Tamil in all letters.

In addition, for these letters and government orders, their waivers have been granted in English, and the Secretariat’s department shall send it to the translation department of the Ministry of Tamil Development and Information for the purpose of translating it into Tamil.

It added that the various departments that have translated them into Tamil should be sent to the translation department for review as required.