October 1-15
2024
Volume 3
Issue 19
Rs 50
Pages 46,47,48
TN Govt Boost to Set Up More ‘Tamil Chairs’ in Varsities
Our Bureau
In a significant fillip to deepen Tamil studies and to propagate Tamil language abroad and in other states within the country, the Government of Tamil Nadu has undertaken several key promotional measures during the last three years since the DMK came back to power in the State in May 2021.
Foremost among these measures is the effort to set up ‘Tamil Chairs at reputed Universities within India and abroad.
An amount of Rs. Four crore has been granted by the Tamil Nadu government as financial assistance to establish a ‘Tamil Chair’ in the University of Houston, USA, in a first of its kind.
The more than 50-year-old historic ‘Tamil Chair’ at Cologne University in Germany, which had been languishing for funds, was extended a grant of Rs.1.25 Crore by the Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin when the issue was brought to his notice.
Further, an amount of Rs. Five Crore was granted by the State government in 2022, followed by another cash assistance of nearly Rs.39 lakh in 2024 to establish a separate ‘Department of Tamil Literature’ at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, said an official release on three years of achievements of the
State Tamil Development Department. (TDD) and the Directorate of Tamil Development.
The TDD, which is being steered by the present State Minister for Information and Tamil Development. M.P. Saminathan, has also chipped in with liberal grants of Rs.75 lakh for
The renovation of the ‘Navi Mumbai Tamil Sangam Building in Mumbai,
Rs.15 lakh for extension of buildings at Bhubaneswar Tamil Sangam, Odisha.
The government has also earmarked grants to the tune of Rs.50 lakh each for construction of additional buildings for the Chandigarh Tamil Forum and for the renovation of the Auditorium of the Delhi Tamil Sangam.
New Incentives for Translations, Tamil Publications
A major activity of the Tamil Development Department is to institutionalize a slew of new incentives for Translations and publishing high quality books in Tamil Language, besides steps to popularize Sangam-era Tamil classics abroad.
From the financial year 2024, the release said steps will be taken to make the best Tamil books translated into world languages available in the top 100 Universities and famous libraries of the World. An amount of Rs. Two crore will be allocated for this initiative.
As an extension of the ‘Dream House Scheme’, the Tamil Nadu Government has ordered to provide such houses to winners of the ‘Sahitya Akademi Translation Award for Best Translated Book in Tamil’, who are residing in the state.
Under the ‘Best Books Prize Scheme’, the prize money will be increased from Rs.30,000 to Rs.50,000 to the author of the best books selected under the scheme and from Rs. 10,000 to Rs.25,000 to the Publisher who has published the book.
Among the projects being implemented by the Tamil University, Thanjavur, a sum of Rs.2.11 Crore has been sanctioned to undertake projects to document Tamil cultural traditions, reviving traditional art forms of Tamils, establishing Folklore Museum, conducting Tamil Art and culture as depicted in the inscriptions, and imparting training to handicraft artisans for three years.
Another grant of Rs. 12 lakh has been provided for translating ‘
Sanga Tamizh’, written by former Chief Minister, Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar M Karunanidhi into French and German.
The ‘Tamil Development Centre’ at the Tamil University, set up to promote and protect the Tamil Language worldwide, have during the last three years signed MoUs’ with ten local and foreign institutions, for conducting undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma and certificate courses and around 780 students have been enrolled for these programmes.
The ‘Tamil Cultural Centre’, under the Tamil University, to help spread Tamil culture all over the world, has in the last three years signed MoUs’ with 30 local and foreign institutions, for conducting classes in music, dance and traditional arts. So far 3,563 students have been enrolled under this programme.
Under the auspices of the ‘International Institute of Tamil Studies’, at Taramani in Chennai, an exclusive institute for Tamil higher studies established when Kalaignar M Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister in 1970, the present Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin released
Prof. Pa. Ra. Subramanian’s Tamil translation of Dr. Robert Caldwell’s ‘A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages’, the first such translation into Tamil done under the ‘Muthamizh Arignar Translation Project’, on February 16, 2022, the release said.
Further, on July 12, 2023, The Tamil Development and Information Minister, M.P. Saminathan released the Tamil translation of ancient Greek Epics by Homer, the ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’.
A sum of Rs.9.10 lakh was released by the Tamil Development Minister on July 12, 2023, to enable the translation project of Greek Epics into Tamil.
Select books in ancient Tamil literature, modern literature and children’s literature were converted into audio books and released at a
cost of Rs Ten lakh, the press release said.
As regards the ‘Tamil Etymological Dictionary Project’, a revised edition of ‘Tamil Etymological Lexicons’ in Seven Volumes, by upgrading 31 volumes of Tamil Etymological Lexicons on par with current scenario,
A Dictionary on Medical Terminologies,
A Micro App called, ‘Tamilpesi”, with a multilingual dictionary to benefit other languages-speaking people has been released by the Tamil Development Minister at the ‘Tamil
Lexicography Day Function’.
Sorkuvai Website Over 15.33 lakh words including words
compiled from various dictionaries like the lexicon of the Directorate of Tamil Etymological Dictionary Project, Madras University Dictionary, Technical Glossary of Tamil Virtual Academy and the Glossary of Tamil Nadu Government have been uploaded till July 2024, in the ‘Sorkuvai’ website (www.sorkuvai.tn.gov.in /www. sorkuvai.com), designed exclusively for the Directorate of Tamil Etymological Dictionary Project.
Indo-European Root Words Comparative Dictionary
The Government has also issued an order to create and publish an ‘Indo-European Root Words Comparative Dictionary’ through the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.
A sum of little over Rs.5.47 crore has been provided for implementing this project which is under progress, said the release.
While the birth anniversary of Veeramamunivar, ‘Father of Tamil Lexicography’ is celebrated every year on November 8, several awards are in place to encourage scholarship in the field of Lexicography.
For example, the ‘Devaneya Pavanar Award’ and the ‘Veeramamunivar Award’, each carrying a cash prize of Rs. Two lakh and one sovereign gold medal have been given to scholars in the past three years.
An amount of Rs.13.40 lakh has been sanctioned for setting up libraries at the Institute of Higher International Studies, Paris and the ‘Munchen(Munich) Tamil Sangam’, Germany.
Another Rs.51 lakh was sanctioned for translating the Collected Works of Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar into Tamil and for publishing the first ten volumes of that series.
In the same breath, the government has granted nearly Rs.30 lakh to publish an e-book edition of the Collected Works of Thanthai Periyar (21 volumes) in Indian and International languages through the Tamil Nadu Textbooks and Educational Services Corporation.
In the first phase, Periyar’s volumes translated into Ten languages were released by the State Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, Udhayanidhi Stalin on January 18, 2024, who is now the Deputy Chief Minister.
Efforts are on to revive the
‘Science Tamil Forum’, which was inaugurated by former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and which was functional till 2011.
To commemorate the memory of the ‘Language Martyrs’- Thalamuthu and Natarajan, who sacrificed their lives in the anti-Hindi agitation to protect Mother Tamil, the government has sanctioned Rs.34.30 lakh to renovate the existing memorial for them at Moolakothalam in North Chennai.
Erection of ‘Memorial Pillars’ in honour of classical Sangam-era poets like Kaniyan Poongundranar at Mahibalanpatti, Thirupathur taluk, Sivagangai district, and poet
Kapilar at Thirukovilur in Kallakurichi district,
steps initiated to publish an anthology of ‘Sangam Literary works’ through the International Institute of Tamil Studies,
Assistance to Tamil Virtual Academy to offer online programmes to reach Tamil classics like ‘Thirukkural’ to a wider segment of the population,
And doubling the amount of range of cash awards-from Rs. One lakh to Rs. Two lakh- to recognize and honour Tamil scholars contributing to Tamil development like the ‘Thiruvlluvar Award’, ‘Perarignar Anna Award’, ‘Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Aard’ ‘Mahakavi Bharathiyar Award’ and ‘Pavender Bharathidasan Award’ and ‘Chief Minister Computer Tamil Award’ among others-
And institution of new Awards for Tamil scholars like the one to commemorate the birth centenary of former Chief Minister Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar, presenting the ‘Kalaignar M Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award’ instituted at the ‘Central Institute of Classical Tamil’ by Kalaignar with his own funds and which were not presented for ten years from 2010 to 2019,
Besides publishing books and additional facilities being created at the ‘World Tamil Sangam’ at Madurai, are among the other performance highlights of the Tamil Development Department in the last three years of DMK rule.
Add a Comment