Dravidian governments started honouring Bharathiyar: Sekar Babu

CHENNAI: State Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) P K Sekar Babu on Sunday said that the successive governments formed by Dravidian parties started the process of honouring the legendary Tamil poet Bharathiyar and started spreading his fame across the globe.

The 101st death anniversary of Bharathiyar was observed on Sunday and Ministers including state Law Minister S Ragupathi, Sekar Babu, Greater Chennai Corporation Mayor R Priya and officials paid floral tributes to the portrait of Bharthiyar kept under his statue in Kamaraj road.

After paying respect to the poet, Sekar Babu, while addressing the media, said "It was former Chief Minister C N Annadurai who called Bharathiyar as 'Makkal Kavi'. Former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi nationalised the house of Bharathiyar in Ettayapuram by converting the house into a memorial in 1973."

The Minister also said that Chief Minister M K Stalin following the footsteps of Anna and Karunanidhi announced that the centenary death anniversary of Bharathiyar would be celebrated for one complete year and as announced the pride and the contributions of Bharathiyar was celebrated for 52 weeks. Various events such as debates, elocution and essay writing competitions were conducted for students.

The Minister further said that 14 orders were issued by the Chief Minister and all the 14 orders have been successfully implemented. Though Bharathiyar lived for only a few years, his writings as a poet, teacher and journalist will live for several hundred years, added the Minister.

After coming to power, Stalin announced that the death anniversary of Bharathiyar would be observed as 'Mahakavi Day' and various events would be conducted on the day by the state government. Recently, the state government allotted Rs 18 lakh for renovating the room in which Bharathiyar lived in Varanasi and announced to establish a bust sized statue for the poet in the room. The state government will also pay the monthly rent for the room.