Tamil Nadu government sanctions Rs 10 lakhs for Tamil chair in Harvard University

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore towards setting up of a Tamil Chair at the Harvard University in the US, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said today.

The move came following requests made to late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by two US-based Tamils, he said.

V Janakiraman and Thirugnanasambandam, who had been making efforts for establishing the Tamil Chair at the varsity, had taken up the matter with Jayalalithaa and sought the government's help, he said.

Subsequently Jayalalithaa included it (to extend assistance to such an initiative) in the list of promises as part of AIADMK's election manifesto last year, he recalled.

"I have directed that a sum of Rs 10 crore be granted on behalf of Tamil Nadu government, which follows Amma's (Jayalalithaa) footsteps, towards setting up a Tamil Chair at Harvard University and implement the (poll-time) promise," Palaniswami said in a statement.

The move will help in taking up research work on India based on Tamil language, enabling more students pursue research on Tamil culture, and bringing Tamil archives being maintained in US libraries under the research ambit, he said.

These will ultimately help the world know about the richness of Tamil language, the Chief Minister added.