Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, on June 6, said that his DMK government would work towards getting all the languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, including Tamil, the official language status of the Union government. Besides Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are among the languages declared as classical languages of India. Currently, Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the Union government, but it is not the national language of India.
On June 6, 2004, the Union government announced Tamil would be given the status of a classical language following the continued efforts of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. On October 12, 2004, the Union government issued a notification, giving Tamil the classical language status under the Prime Ministership of Manmohan Singh.
Recounting the efforts of his father and late DMK supremo M Karunanidhi, Stalin said his government would continue to work to embellish the Tamil language more and more. Lauding the language, MK Stalin described Tamil as "one of the oldest languages in the world and the mother of all Dravidian languages, a language that has a great literary wealth." In his statement, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also added that his government would do everything possible “to spread the fragrance of Tamil language in all eight directions.”
According to Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union government is Hindi in Devanagari script. The Eighth Schedule has 22 languages, including Hindi. Article 345 deals with official language or languages of a state. It says a state legislature may by law adopt any one or more languages for all or any of the official purposes of that state.
திராவிட மொழிக்குடும்பத்தின் தாயாம் தமிழுக்குச் செம்மொழித் தகுதி பெற்றுத் தந்தவர் முத்தமிழறிஞர் கலைஞர்!
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 6, 2021
8வது அட்டவணையில் இடம்பெற்றுள்ள தமிழ் உள்ளிட்ட அனைத்து மொழிகளும் ஒன்றிய அரசின் ஆட்சி-அலுவல் மொழியாகிட அவரது வழியில் திமுக அரசு உறுதியுடன் பாடுபடும்.
எத்திசையும் தமிழ் மணக்கும்! pic.twitter.com/FsBApvC9lR
(With inputs from PTI)