Tamil Nadu Minister for Tamil Official Language, Tamil Culture and Archaeology, Thangam Thennarasu on Thursday said that the state government has taken steps to ensure that Tamil is made the official communication language in government offices of the state. The minister, while speaking to reporters at his office in Chennai, said that steps are also being taken to convert the government files into Tamil language.
Thangam Thennarasu said that the Chief Secretary has already given instructions to ensure the translation of government files to Tamil language and a nodal officer will be appointed to monitor the progress. The minister also said that officials will be employed to ensure that the translation of the government files is done to Tamil language with immediate effect.
The Tamil Language Minister also said that former Chief Minister, the late M Karunanidhi had created an endowment under the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) for giving away yearly cash awards of Rs 10 lakh to Tamil Scholars. However, the minister said that the subsequent AIADMK government did not take this forward. Thangam Thennarasu said that the DMK government would revive the proposal of giving away cash awards to Tamil scholars and a committee would soon be set up for that. He said that Chief Minister MK Stalin would make a formal announcement soon.
The minister said that the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) would continue to run as an autonomous institution and added that the state government would ensure that the statues of Tamil scholars are properly maintained. The minister also said that the CCLT would be shifted to a new building in Perumbakkam soon after its construction is over.
Recently, actor-politician Kamal Hassan requested the state government set up a ministry to focus on the development of the Tamil language, in a letter to Chief Minister MK Stalin. “It has been 17 years since Tamil was announced as a classical language by the Union government. However, we have done nothing big to ensure its growth and make it flourish. In one instance, even the Madras High Court pulled up the TN government for not taking steps to promote Tamil," he wrote.