TIRUVANNAMALAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday inaugurated Arignar Anna Arch and unveiled former CM M Karunanidhi's life-size statue in Tiruvannamalai near the entrance of the 14-km Girivalam path.
Speaking at a public meeting, Stalin said, "Just as Tiruvannamalai and dheepam cannot be separated, Tiruvannamalai and DMK, too, cannot be separated." Citing the historic connection between the temple town and the DMK since the inception of the party, the CM said the installation of Kalaignar's statue and Anna arch embodied that connection.
PWD Minister EV Velu, Minister for Higher Education K Ponmudy, Minister for Minorities Welfare KS Masthan, Deputy Speaker K Pichandi, and Tiruvannamalai MP C N Annadurai took part.
On Saturday morning, Stalin will distribute welfare assistance worth Rs 693.02 crore to 1,71,169 beneficiaries, inaugurate projects completed at a cost of Rs 70.27 crore, and lay foundation stone for 246 projects to be taken up at a cost of Rs 340.21 crore, official sources said.
Earlier in the day, the CM inaugurated a centre for Illam Thedi Kalvi (ITK) in Aaranji village near Kilpennathur in the district. The State now has two lakh such centres. The first ITK centre was inaugurated on October 27, 2021, at Mudhaliyarkuppam village of Marakkanam in Villupuram.
Speaking at the function, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said more such centres will be opened across Tamil Nadu. Education should be the central focus of a knowledge-based society, and that’s how the ITK scheme was envisioned by the CM, Poyyamozhi said.
Under the scheme, there are two lakh volunteers taking classes for over 34 lakh children. During the first phase, the scheme was started in 12 districts. To encourage reading habits among students, 1,000 ITK libraries were also opened, a press release said.
On Friday morning, Stalin was received by Minister Velu and Pichandi and hundreds of party workers at the district entrance in Kilpennathur. On reaching Kilpennathur, Stalin visited the residence of 14-year-old E Sivanandham at So Pudhur village.
Sivanandham was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was one-and-half years old. The CM spoke to Sivanandham’s father Elumalai, a driver, and mother Tamilarasi, a farm labourer, and gifted a special wheelchair worth Rs 15,000 to the boy. Monthly financial aid of Rs 1,000 will also be given to him, a press release said.