CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday handed over the Kalaignar Memorial Kalaithurai Vithagar Award for the year 2023 to veteran playback singer P Susheela (89) and veteran poet Mu Mehta (79) at a function held at the secretariat. The award carries Rs 10 lakh and a memento.
The award is being given to those who made outstanding contributions to the Tamil film industry. To commemorate the birth centenary of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the award has also been given to a woman who made contributions to the Tamil film industry.
Susheela was born in Vijayanagaram in Andhra Pradesh on November 13, 1935, and rendered over 25,000 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada during her 70 years of journey. Mehta was born on September 5, 1945, in Periyakulam in Theni district.
Out of his intense love for the Tamil language and literature, he served as a Tamil professor at Presidency College in Chennai. He has authored numerous poems, novels, and essays and penned lyrics for over 70 films.
Stalin also commenced the payment of Rs 10,000 per student, who are children of priests in temples coming under the Oru Kala Pooja Scheme. At the secretariat, 10 students from various districts received assistance from the chief minister. In all, 500 students will get the assistance for pursuing higher studies. Currently, 17,000 temples are receiving funds under the Oru Kala Pooja scheme.
Meanwhile, the chief minister inaugurated 19 completed works including check dams in many districts and new buildings for the water resources department executed at a total cost of Rs 8.19 crore.
R Gopinath, a teacher from Rajakuppam in Vellore district, and RS Muralidharan, a teacher from Lakshmipuram in Madurai - who have received the National Teachers Award from the President recently - called on Stalin on Friday.
