Mega fest for farmers on Tamil New Year
Seeking to reaffirm her earlier resolve on celebrating Tamil New Year on first day of Chithirai (mid-April) and not on Thai 1 as altered by the previous DMK, chief minister J. Jayalalithaa announced that her government will for the first time launch interactive “farmers’ mega festival” on April 13 and provide a grand feast to farmers.
Also, she would participate in the celebrations to be held at the Madras University Centenary Auditorium and honour Tamil scholars, authors and organisations that have served for the cause of the language.
Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly on Tuesday Ms Jayalalithaa said farmers’ festivals would be conducted at 16,564 revenue villages across the state to ensure knowledge transfer on cultivation technology and providing them information on government’s welfare schemes.
“It is vital to attain self sufficiency in foodgrain production and food security is of paramount importance. To facilitate this, my government is implementing several schemes to usher in second green revolution,” she informed.
During the awareness camps, the farmers would be groomed to tackle challenges in crop management and irrigation so as to make agriculture profitable.
“Experts will interact with the farmers and offer solutions on various issues,” she said and added that street plays, exhibitions, and creative work would be used to disseminate the information.
Meanwhile, a release said starting from this year, the chief minister will present awards to Tamil scholars, authors and organisations who had contributed for the language.
Prof A. A. Manavalan has been selected for the Kapilar Award, Poet Se. Rasu for the U. S. Saa award and educationist Mrs. Y.G. Parthasarathy for the Avvaiyar award for Model Woman.
Besides a purse of `1 lakh, they would be given an eight gram gold medal and a merit certificate. The Madurai Tamil Sangam will get Tamil Thaai award for serving the language.
In addition, Ms Jayalalithaa will give away cash prizes to authors of 27 Tamil books. Cultural event will also mark the award distribution function. A seminar: “Thurai Thorum Thamizh” (Tamil in all departments) and a literary meet, Muthirai Padhikkum Chithirai, would be conducted.
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