THOOTHUKUDI: The Tamil Nadu Highway Department Diploma Engineers Association (TNHDDEA) has called for revoking the suspension of two officials over the use of Hindi words on a signage board on State Highway 93 (SH-93) near Sathankulam in Thoothukudi.
There is no directive on the languages to be followed while naming cities on signage boards erected on the state highways revamped under the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF), the association stated. The SH-93 was renovated at Rs 4.56 crore under the CRIF in the 2025-26 fiscal year, it added.
The association’s state general secretary M Marimuthu said that the state government had not yet rolled out any directive or guidelines to be followed about the languages to be used when the state highways are revamped using central funds.
The state government has also not yet clarified how many languages shall be used. In this situation, the suspension of two officials without even issuing a prior notice and conducting an inquiry is unacceptable, he said.
“The state government must revoke the suspension immediately and seek clarifications from the two officials as per the procedures. A wrong impression is being created that the officials had arbitrarily used Hindi language. Action must be taken had they named cities in Hindi along with Tamil and English intentionally, thus violating the prevailing norms governing the use of central funds,” Marimuthu added.
