CHENNAI: Chief minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Sunday vowed to continue to work to make Tamil the official and administrative language of the Centre.
Tthe DMK would work to make all the 22 languages including Tamil in the Constitution’s eighth schedule get such a status.
In a statement, Stalin recalled the efforts of his father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi to get the “classical status” for the language.
While an official announcement was made on June 6, 2004, a government notification was issued on October 12, 2004, Stalin said in his statement.
The status of a classical language was the right honour for the Tamil language.
“DMK will continue to work to spread the reach of the Tamil language.
It will also work towards making all the languages that are part of the eighth schedule to become the official and administrative language of the Union government,” Stalin said.
“We have been insisting and working towards this since 2004.
Not only Tamil, but all the 22 languages that are part of the eighth schedule, to be made the official and administrative language of the Union government,” DMK Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesman T K S Elangovan told TOI.
PMK founder S Ramadoss condemned All India Radio for airing all programmes in its Chennai digital transmission service in Hindi.
Ramadoss alleged this was Hindi imposition and demanded that only Tamil programmes be transmitted from the Chennai station.
In tweets on Sunday, Ramadoss said Tamil programmes are neglected in AIR’s digital transmission channel from Chennai, DRM 783KHz.
Digital radio transmission is a modern radio technology and an alternative to FM channels.
Rather than airing Tamil programmes using the technology, Hindi is being thrust, he alleged.
Condemning Prasar Bharti and AIR, he demanded that Hindi programmes are stopped immediately and Tamil programmes and Tamil news be aired in the channel.
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