CHENNAI: Reacting to the announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US that a Tamil Studies Chair would be established at the University of Houston, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday said the state government has already taken steps to establish a Tamil Chair in the university and Chief Minister MK Stalin had contributed funds for that.
The Prime Minister, on the final day of his three-day trip to the US, made the announcement while addressing the Indian diaspora in Washington DC. Talking to reporters in Chennai after paying homage to poet Kannadasan on his birth anniversary, Subramanian said, “The works for establishing a Tamil Chair are going on. Our chief minister and Tamil Development minister have been invited to Houston.” However, Subramanian declined to say anything more about Modi’s announcement.
The efforts to establish a Tamil Chair have been going on for the past few years. On December 24, 2019, the then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami handed over a cheque for Rs 1 crore towards the Tamil Nadu government’s contribution to set up a Tamil Chair in the university, to Sam Kannappan, chairman of Houston Tamil Studies Chair, the organisation which is raising funds for establishing a Tamil Chair.
On the same day, the then deputy CM O Panneerselvam donated Rs 7 lakh for this purpose. On January 15, 2021, Sam Kannappan also appealed to the Union government seeking funds. After the DMK assumed office, Chief Minister MK Stalin presented a cheque for Rs 2.5 crore to Sam Kannappan on November 15, 2022.