Zoho Corp founder Sridhar Vembu has weighed in on the ongoing Hindi language debate in Tamil Nadu, pointing out that access to Hindi education is dictated by affordability rather than preference. "CBSE schools are growing fast even in rural Tamil Nadu and they all teach Hindi. Parents who can afford the fees prefer to send their kids to CBSE schools. Only the children of poor parents who cannot afford the fees go to government or aided schools and are denied the opportunity to learn Hindi. We hire a lot of those students. These are the plain facts," Vembu said in a post on X.
His remarks came in response to S Gurumurthy, who highlighted the disparity in language education, noting that over 60 lakh students in CBSE schools across Tamil Nadu study Hindi, while 83 lakh students in government and aided schools do not. S Gurumurthy wrote: "Today 60 lac students who are in CBSE schools which rising by the day all study Hindi. Over 5 lac students appear in Dhakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar sabha exams. 83 lac students in govt and aided schools don't study Hindi. 47% TN students read Hindi."
This is not the first time Vembu has spoken about the importance of Hindi learning. Earlier, he had stated how the lack of Hindi proficiency among Tamil Nadu’s rural engineers posed a challenge for businesses like Zoho. "As Zoho grows rapidly in India, we have rural engineers in Tamil Nadu working closely with customers in Mumbai and Delhi. So much of our business is driven from these cities and from Gujarat. Rural jobs in Tamil Nadu depend on us serving those customers well. Not knowing Hindi is often a serious handicap for us in Tamil Nadu."
"It is smart for us to learn Hindi," he had said, urging people to “ignore the politics” and treat language acquisition as a practical skill for economic growth.
Vembu’s remarks come amid a growing language controversy in Tamil Nadu, where the ruling DMK government has accused the Centre of imposing Hindi through policies like the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). The debate escalated after pro-Tamil activists blackened Hindi portions on railway station signboards in Chennai. DMK workers also defaced Hindi signage at Pollachi Junction and Palayankottai railway station, leading to the arrest of six party cadres under the Railways Act.
Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai strongly condemned these actions, calling it a serious blow to Tamil Nadu’s image. "This is shocking! A big, big blow to Tamil Nadu. Investors will feel there is no rule of law but the rule of the violent mob. CM MK Stalin should stop this before TN brand gets damaged badly by this extreme cultural violence," Pai said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has remained firm in his opposition to Hindi. He recently accused the Centre of “sowing the seeds of a language war” by forcing Hindi upon Tamil Nadu. "We are determined not to allow any other language to dominate and destroy Tamil," Stalin declared, reiterating that the state will adhere strictly to its bilingual policy of Tamil and English.
Stalin also linked the Hindi debate to the upcoming delimitation process, arguing that Tamil Nadu could lose eight Lok Sabha seats if parliamentary representation is based on population size. He has convened an all-party meeting on March 5 to discuss the issue, calling for a united front against the Centre’s policies.