Edappadi K Palaniswami not for Classical Tamil Institute merger

Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday opposed any move to merge the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) in Chennai with the Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUT) in Tiruvarur.

At a meeting of the Governing Board of Central Institute of Classical Tamil here chaired by him, Palaniswami opposed the move saying the institute should not lose its autonomous status.

Adopting a resolution opposing the merger, the governing board asked the Centre to ensure that the autonomy of the CICT is protected.

Citing recent reports in a section of media that CICT will come under the ambit of Tiruvarur-based Central University of Tamil Nadu, a press release said, “The institute should not lose its autonomous status due to any reason.”

Palaniswami also referred to reports that had claimed that CICT, set up by the Centre in 2008 four years after Tamil was accorded with Classical Language status, would lose its autonomy if it came under the administrative control of the central varsity.

Functioning under the Union Human Resources Development Ministry, the CICT is focused on Classical Tamil research till circa 600 AD. CICT must not be moved out of Chennai, the resolution passed at the fifth Governing Board meeting said.
Also, the Union HRD ministry should allot funds to strengthen research on Tamil literature and to new schemes for Tamil development, the resolution added.

As the controversy raged on the issue, the HRD Ministry had stepped into clarify that there was no proposal to merge the two institutes. From March 2006 to May 18, 2008, the institute was functioning from the Central Institute of Indian Languages campus in Mysuru and in 2008, it was renamed as Centre for Excellence of Classical Tamil and its premises shifted to Chennai.