Tagore, Kalam statues in Tamil Nadu colleges; govt to set up social media cell

Statues of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and former President A P J Abdul Kalam will come up at the prestigious Queen Mary’s College and Anna University in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu government said as it announced installing statues and building of new auditoriums in memory of several freedom fighters.

Making a slew of announcements in the Assembly, Minister for Information and Publicity M P Saminathan also announced setting up of a Journalists’ Welfare Board and an Rs five-lakh cash award every year for journalists who are working for the under-privileged sections of the society in memory of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

The minister said the solatium provided to the family of a journalist who dies in the line of duty is being increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 3 lakh while announcing that the government will provide financial assistance to young journalists for pursuing higher studies.

Statues of ten personalities, including Tagore and Kalam, will be installed in various places at a cost of Rs 1 crore. Kalam’s statue at Anna University, the premier engineering college in the state, is significant as the former President mentored students at the institute by staying in a hostel room before his ascension to Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2002.

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Statues of freedom fighters Veerapandia Kattabomban, and Marudhu Brothers will be installed in Chennai, while the bust of Anjalai Ammal and Keezhapaluvur Chinnasamy will come up at Cuddalore and Ariyalur respectively.

Saminathan announced that a statue will be erected at the Government Guest House in Chepauk in memory of Dravidian stalwart V R Nedunchezhian, who had served in the cabinets of C N Annadurai, M Karunanidhi, M G Ramachandran, and J Jayalalithaa.

Statues in memory of Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, Moovalur Ramamirthan, and Dr Mu Varadarasanar will come up at Pudukkottai, Mayiladuthurai, and Ranipet districts, the minister announced. The minister also said the sound and light programme will be introduced at the fort of Veerapandia Kattabomban on 75 years of India’s Independence.

Other announcements include naming the Chief Engineer’s office complex in Pollachi in Coimbatore district after former Union Minister C Subramanian and construction of an auditorium in the complex at Rs 4 crore. The minister said a social media cell is being set up to take the government’s initiatives to the people through Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube among other platforms.

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