Madras High Court asks state to take steps, allocate funds to popularise Tamil literature

The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to take steps to advance Tamil language, allocate necessary funds and to conduct various events to popularise Tamil literature of the Sangam era and modern Tamil literature. 

“Tamil Nadu government to allocate necessary funds for the development of the Tamil language and conduct various events to popularize the Tamil literature of the Sangam era and modern Tamil literature,” the court said in its order. 

Two-Judge Bench’s Decision 

A two-judge bench of the Madras High Court comprising justices Mahadevan and Sathya Narayana Prasad was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) regarding preservation of Tamil literature. The petitioner in the PIL asked that Tamil books, Tamil research books, other language books related to the development of Tamil language be placed in the library of the World Tamil Association and new basic facilities should be established at the library. 

The petitioner further stated that funds allotted by the government were not used to purchase books, but were rather diverted to pay staff salaries and to meet sundry expenses. 

Upon reading the reports submitted by the government, the judges came to the conclusion that both the government and the World Tamil Sangam are making every effort to advance the goals of preserving Tamil literature. As a result, they dismissed the petition. 

The World Tamil Sangam was established with the stated goal of uniting world Tamil organisations abroad to send scholars and artistes to foreign countries to articulate the literary depth and grace of the Tamil language as well as to encourage Tamil academics from other nations to contribute to the language’s advancement. 

The Union Ministry of Education on Monday informed Lok Sabha that the government has spent ₹19,883.16 lakh on Central Sanskrit University (CSU), which is way more than ₹1,186.15 lakh spent on Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT). 

S Jothimani, a Congress party member, questioned the central government on the data of the grants released to the Central Institute of Classical Tamil and Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (RSS) since 2014, year-wise.

The Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar told Lok Sabha that in 2021-22 the government has allocated Rs 1,186.15 lakh for Tamil language and the Central Sanskrit University received grants of Rs 19,883.16 lakh.