Tamil Nadu Language Row: Hindi On Medicine Covers Sparks Fresh Controversy As DMK & TVK Trade Charges Over Trilingual Instructions

Chennai: A political controversy erupted in Tamil Nadu after the distribution of medicine covers at government medical college hospitals in Karur and Coimbatore contained instructions in Tamil, English, and Hindi. The opposition DMK and the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) exchanged charges over the State's two-language policy of Tamil and English and its opposition to Hindi.

DMK leader T.R.B. Rajaa posted pictures of the brown medicine covers on X, alleging the implementation of the three-language policy in Tamil Nadu hospitals. He claimed that the covers, which instructed on the consumption of medicines in all three languages, were introduced in Karur first and subsequently in Coimbatore.

Government Medical College, Karur, Dean M. Bharathi Mohan refuted the allegations, stating that the covers were not newly designed or introduced by the current administration. They had been procured on December 24, 2025, during the DMK regime and were only recently put into use. Following the controversy, staff were instructed to stop issuing medicines in the Hindi-language covers.

At Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, the administration replaced the brown covers with new ones bearing only Tamil and English. Pharmacists were instructed to use the new covers, while a few days ago, the reporter visited a government hospital in Gudalur, Nilgiris, and received a similar paper cover without any issues. Tamil Nadu Bypoll TVK P Sathyabama subsequently faced an Election Commission of India complaint over a viral video claiming ₹31 crore election spend.