This board on SH-93 near Sathankulam carried place names in Tamil, Hindi and English, though the road is maintained by the State Highways department
A 2004 Union road ministry circular requires advance information signs on National Highways to carry the local language, Hindi and English, while asking states to adopt the same practice on State Highways for road users and tourists. Under Indian Road Congress code (IRC:67-2022), Tamil Nadu is not required to use Hindi on direction boards along State Highways.
Do not play with it,” he said. Highways minister Aadhav Arjuna said a departmental inquiry found the trilingual board resulted from the “carelessness and negligence” of officials, and maintained that the govt’s Tamil-English policy remained unchanged. DMK president M K Stalin accused the TVK govt of doing what Tamil Nadu had opposed, and asked whether it was another move that would be reversed after resistance. “The two-language policy is Tamil Nadu’s lifeline. Assistant divisional engineer N Boominathan and assistant engineer T Muthulakshmi were suspended and the board replaced. The rulebook is less categorical. The code allows states to use the regional language and English, while Hindi can be added where considered necessary. In effect, Tamil Nadu can continue with Tamil-English signboards without violating the national road-sign standard.