The Indian Rupee is all set to get a distinct identity in the form of a new symbol. The union cabinet on Thursday 15 July 2010, gave its approval to the symbol.
The symbol is an amalgam of the Devangari ‘Ra’ and the Roman capital ‘R’ without the stem. The symbol has been designed by D Udayakumar, a Mumbai IIT postgraduate who has just joined as a lecturer at IIT Guwahati. Kumar will receive a prize money of Rs 2.5 lakh for his efforts.
The symbol will standardize the expression for the Indian rupee in different languages, both within and outside the country.The Indian rupee joins the club of US dollar, British pound, European euro and Japanese yen that have their own symbols.
It might take more than a year for the new symbol to come into use throughout the country and about two years for it to be popular internationally.
Till now, the Indian currency was simply denoted by Rs or INR. Kumar’s symbol was chosen after a public competition was held among resident Indian citizens inviting entries for a symbol which reflects and captures the Indian “ethos and culture”.
Over 3,000 entries were received ,these were evaluated by a jury headed by the RBI deputy governor, which included experts from reputed arts and design institutes. The entries were presented to the jury in such a manner that the identity of the competitors was not revealed to the jury members. The jury selected five final entries and also gave its evaluation of these five entries to the government to take a final decision.
Though the symbol will not be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins , it would be included in the ‘Unicode Standard’ and major scripts of the world. Unicode is an international standard that allows text data to be interchanged globally without conflict.
Most of the publics are of the opinion that, the sign retains the Devanagari script, which means we are moving forward globally with our traditions intact. Some are of the opinion that finally, the world will realize India’s power, it is a matter of pride that India is in the elite list.
The symbol will help to distinguish the Indian currency from those countries whose currencies are also designated as rupee or rupaiah,such as Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
India is more respected for the value of its currency in the market, which reflects its economic progress. The symbol would reflect the streghths and robustness of the Indian Economy.
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