CHENNAI: Warning the Union government against starting another “language war” by imposing Hindi as a compulsory language, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Modi and the Centre to drop efforts in that direction and uphold the unity of India.
The CM was reacting to news reports about the recommendation of the parliamentary panel chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that Hindi replace English as the medium of instruction in all Central technical and non-technical institutions as well as in Central varsities. These institutions include the IITs, IIMs, AIIMS and Kendriya Vidyalayas. In a statement, Stalin said acting on the recommendation would destroy the nation’s unity and noted the panel had also recommended that Hindi be made the common language across India.
Pointing out that Eighth Schedule of the Constitution lists 22 languages, including Tamil, as entitled to equal treatment, he asked where the need arose for the panel to recommend Hindi as the common language of India. “Why is it recommended to discontinue English language question papers in Union recruitment examinations to give preference to Hindi?” he asked.
Asserting that making one language as common for the whole country is practically impossible, he said mandating it would be akin to stating that only Hindi speakers are the rightful citizens of India and speakers of other languages are second-class citizens.
AG&P Pratham to cover 1 lakh domestic connections in a year
The company has an investment of Rs 2,700 crore planned for the whole of TN over the next eight years and has a license to supply gas in Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur and Ramanathapuram districts as well as in south east Chennai.
AG&P Pratham aims to cover one lakh domestic connections within a year and 22 lakh households across TN in the next eight years, said Venkatesan. To date, AG&P Pratham has launched 27 CNG stations in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts as well as in south east Chennai, three in Ramanathapuram district and 14 in Vellore and Ranipet districts.
The company plans to launch 22 more CNG stations in Tamil Nadu by March 2023. “Till date, on an average 50 to 70km of pipelines for local areas have been laid in these six regions apart from 30km of steel pipelines used to transport gas for long distances,” said Venkatesan. I ndustries Minister Thangam Thennarasu and Chief secretary V Irai Anbu were present during the inauguration.