Hindi Words On Coimbatore, Karur Hospitals' Medicine Covers Dropped After Row

The Tamil Nadu government has stopped the use of medicine covers carrying Hindi instructions at government hospitals in Coimbatore and Karur, Health Minister KG Arunraj said, accusing the previous DMK regime of introducing the templates.

The controversy erupted after DMK leader and former Industries Minister T R B Rajaa shared photographs of the medicine covers on X and questioned whether the "three-language policy" had now been implemented in government hospitals. He said, "It appears that the three-language policy has been implemented in hospitals! First in Karur... now the same situation in Coimbatore too..."

#தமிழ்நாடு மருத்துவமனைகளில் மும்மொழிக் கொள்கை அமலுக்கு வந்துள்ளது போல ! முதலில் கரூர்... இப்போது கோவையிலும் அதே நிலமை... #HindiImposition #TvkFailsTN #Tvk https://t.co/N2o9ikE8VO

— Dr. T R B Rajaa (@TRBRajaa) October 6, 2026

Responding to the allegation, Arunraj said the covers in question were introduced during the previous DMK regime and that the present TVK government had merely continued using the existing templates.

DMK vs TVK Over Medicine Covers

In Karur, the minister said, medicine covers were normally procured from the Central Prison and carried instructions such as "morning / afternoon / night" in Tamil. However, after a shortage of covers in December 2025, an emergency order was placed with the Erode District Printing Industrial Cooperative Society for four lakh covers. These, he said, entered circulation in January 2026, during the DMK regime.

In Coimbatore, Arunraj said, the template had been officially approved through administrative procedure about three years ago, during the DMK government, and printed through the Chinthamani Cooperative Society.

"The current administration merely procured covers based on the requirement from the stock available. We did not make any changes to the design or language introduced during the DMK regime," Arunraj said.

He accused the DMK of shedding what he called "crocodile tears" over an issue that originated during its own tenure and urged the party to stop what he called "cheap politics".

"The moment this came to the government's notice, the use of these medicine covers was immediately stopped in both Karur and Coimbatore," the minister said.

Arunraj said Karur would return to the earlier practice of using covers with details printed only in Tamil, while Coimbatore would use covers carrying instructions in Tamil and English.

"TVK is committed to the two-language policy. Medicine covers will have instructions only in Tamil and English," Arunraj said, adding that the government would not compromise on the issue.

Both Karur and Coimbatore are major industrial hubs with a significant migrant workforce, including workers from Hindi-speaking states. The presence of these workers also brings into focus the importance of accessible medicine instructions, even as the state government maintains its commitment to the two-language policy.

The row comes weeks after a separate controversy over Hindi destination names appeared on a state highway signboard near Sathankulam. Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had accused the ruling TVK of Hindi imposition. The government subsequently ordered to remove the Hindi names, suspend two officials and said strict action would be taken against those violating the state's two-language policy.

The latest exchange has once again brought the language issue into the political spotlight, with the ruling TVK and opposition DMK accusing each other of compromising Tamil Nadu's two-language stand.