Tamil Nadu government to take Tamil to 10 Indian cities, 16 nations

Tamil Nadu government will facilitate learning of Tamil language in 10 cities within India and 16 foreign nations, including the USA, for the benefit of the Tamil people settled there, K Pandiarajan, Minister of Tamil Culture informed the Assembly on Wednesday.

The minister said that the government would set up centres for learning the language in 10 cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Bhopal and Port Blair, winding up the debate on demands for grant to his department.

Similar centres would be opened in a total of 16 countries including USA, France, UAE, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mauritius, Reunion Islands, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa and Australia.

The mentioned cities and countries have a significant Tamil population and the effort is to help them learn, read and write the language without any problems. Books and syllabus needed for the task are ready, he said.

In South Africa and Myanmar, a course on Tamil culture would be conducted through the Thanajavur-based Tamil University at a cost of Rs 22 lakh to benefit Tamil students, the minister said.

To match the Tamil pronunciation of the names of towns in Tamil Nadu, in English as well, a high-level committee would be set up in that regard and Rs 5 lakh would be allocated for it.

For example, the Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Tamil official language, said Tiruvallikeni, an area in Chennai, is called 'Triplicane' in English.

The effort is aimed at addressing such neighbourhoods with the same original Tamil pronunciation in English as well, he added.

Also, the minister made a slew of other announcements for the development of Tamil language.

Earlier, during the debate on Tamil development, the treasury and opposition (DMK members) benches vied with each other in listing out the initiatives taken by them for the growth of Tamil.

(With inputs from agencies)