CHENNAI: The Chief Minister will be presenting awards to Tamil scholars on April 13, Tamil New Year’s day.
The previous DMK regime had made the first day of the Tamil month Thai as the beginning of the Tamil year. However, the government headed by J Jayalalithaa, respecting the sentiments of Tamils, passed a resolution in the Assembly last year reverting Tamil New Year’s Day to the original month of Chithirai. Prof A A Manavalan has been selected for the Kapilar Award, poet Se Rasu for the UV Swaminatha Iyer Award and educationist Y G Parthasarathy for the Avvaiyar Award for women of outstanding qualities. The awardees will get `1 lakh, an eight gram gold medal, and a certificate of merit.
The Madurai Tamil Sangam will get Tamil Thaai Award. The CM will also present cash prizes to authors of 27 Tamil books.