Union Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday exhorted the Tamil Nadu government to launch medical and engineering courses in Tamil, which he termed as one of the “oldest living languages of the world.” He also said launching the courses in the local language, taking a cue from other states like Madhya Pradesh, will be a “significant contribution” by the Tamil Nadu government to Tamil.
He was speaking at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of India Cements owned by former BCCI president N Srinivasan. Shah said the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid much focus on Tamil Nadu by increasing the tax devolution to the state manyfold in the past eight years.
Listing out various projects like the defence corridor, Shah said PM Narendra Modi is focusing on Tamil Nadu. “I have an appeal to the Tamil Nadu government. Tamil is one of the oldest languages not just in our country but in the world. Also, Tamil is one of the richest languages in the world. My request to the state government is to launch medical and technical courses in Tamil. A few states have launched courses in their mother tongue,” Shah said.
He added that learning in the mother tongue will help several studies to study better and conduct research and development (R&D) in their native language.
Shah also visited the party’s state headquarters Kamalalayam and held discussions with senior leaders on the 2024 elections among other issues. Sources said Shah told the BJP leaders that there was a “political vacuum” in Tamil Nadu following the death of M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa and that the party should fill the gap.
“We should come to power in the next five years,” Shah told party leaders, according to sources.
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