India in elite club as rupee gets a symbol
New Delhi: In keeping with India's growing economic might and its status as a major investment destination, the hitherto humble rupee is all set to get a distinct identity in the form of a new symbol. The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval to the symbol which combines the Roman letter 'R' with the Devanagri 'Ra'.
The symbol has been designed by D Udaya Kumar, a Mumbai IIT post-graduate, who has just joined as a teacher 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 symbol will catapult the rupee into the company of socalled elite currencies of the world which have similarly distinct identities like the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound. "It's a big statement on the Indian currency. It would distinguish the Indian currency from those countries whose currencies are also designated as rupee or rupiah, such as Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia,'' I&B minister Ambika Soni said after the Cabinet meeting. The symbol, she added, would reflect the strength and robustness of the Indian economy.
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 art 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,'' said Soni.
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 to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media. Unicode is an international standard that allows text data to be interchanged globally without conflict. After incorporation in the global and Indian codes, the symbol will be used by all individuals and entities within and outside the country.
The symbol will be adopted in a span of six months in the country, and within 18 to 24 months globally, Soni said, adding that it will feature on computer keyboards and softwares for worldwide use.
"It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters — capital 'R' and Devanagri 'Ra' which represents rupaiah — to appeal to international and Indian audiences. My design is based on the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between,'' Kumar said.
After encoding of the symbol in the Unicode Standard and National Standard, NASSCOM will approach software development companies for incorporating the rupee symbol in their operative software, as a new programme or as an update, to enable computer users worldwide to use the symbol even if it is not embedded on the keyboards (much like the way Euro symbol is used even though it is not embedded in the keyboards in use in India).
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