Grant more funds, intensify efforts to develop Tamil: HC

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to make earnest efforts to develop Tamil language by allocating more funds, conducting various programmes to popularise Sangam and modern Tamil literature.

B Stalin in a public interest litigation petition sought effective measures for the development of Tamil language by bringing all Tamil books, research submissions, all other books linked to Tamil language to the library of World Tamil Sangam, Madurai, along with creating necessary infrastructure in the Sangam.

Stressing upon the need to propagate the classical language throughout the world, the government conducted the ‘5th World Tamil Conference’ at Madurai in January 1981 where it was announced that World Tamil Sangam would be established in the Temple City.

The World Tamil Sangam was inaugurated with the avowed object of integrating world Tamil organisations abroad to send scholars and artistes to foreign countries for explaining the literary content and elegance of the language and also to invite Tamil scholars from other countries to contribute to the development of the language.

However, such objectives with which the World Tamil Sangam was inaugurated have not been achieved and the objectives remain only on paper. Hence, the petitioner felt the need to propagate the beauty and elegance of Tamil.

The inauguration of the Tamil Sangam was just a formality and the government did nothing for developing the language through the Sangam.

There was no activity taking place in the World Tamil Sangam, Madurai and there are no sufficient books made available in the library housed within the Tamil Sangam building. Programmes aimed at developing the Tamil language and literary awareness of the language were not conducted periodically.

The petitioner further stated that the funds allotted by the government were not utilised for purchase of books, rather it was diverted to pay salary of the staff and to meet sundry expenses.

A division bench of Justices R Mahadevan and J Sathya Narayana Prasad in its order said this court is of the view that the government would make all efforts to develop Tamil in all forms and manifestations and the World Tamil Sangam would march ahead to fulfill the objects with which it was established.