Usage of Ondriya Arasu cannot be accepted: Tamil Nadu Governor

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Tuesday said the term Union Government was “absolutely fine” and can be used without any fear, but took objection to its Tamil translation of Ondriya Arasu, which he said, was “politically overloaded” and was “disrespectful.”

Ondriya Arasu is a term coined by the DMK dispensation in Tamil Nadu after M K Stalin took over as Chief Minister in May 2021 to refer to the Union Government. The BJP and AIADMK have rejected the term saying it does not “make much sense” but the government has normalized its usage in its records, in speeches made by ministers, and in press releases.

In an interaction with civil service aspirants who are awaiting to attend UPSC interview, the Governor was asked which was the right term – Central Government or Union Government. To this, Ravi, who has had a running battle with the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, said there is no issue in using the term Union Government as India is a Union of States.

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“The problem comes in Tamil Nadu because of the Tamil translation which is Ondriya Arasu. Now, we know Ondriya (Union) is a structure or hierarchy which is below the district and below the sub-division. Then it is a political game of playing it down,” Ravi said, firing yet another salvo at the Stalin-led government.

Ravi said there is no harm in using the term Union Government and that he uses it too. “You can use it without fear. But when the translation is politically overloaded, it becomes disrespectful (to the Union Government). Ondriyam is a lower-level (official) structure (Union Panchayat) and I think the intention (behind coining the term) is to be disrespectful,” he added.

The governor also said the Ondriyam (Union) versus Madhiyam (Central) could be seen only in Tamil Nadu and “people outside the state don’t even know about it.”

During the interaction, the Governor also said those in civil services should always side with the Union Government even if there is a contradiction of stand between the Centre and state governments. He also asked them to defend the government’s policies, once getting into civil services, and not to be opinionated or behave like activists.