Classical Tamil institute headless for 9 years

The central body never had a permanent director so far

A panel interviewed candidates in April and chose one, but the file seekinghis appointment is gathering dust at the Human Resource Ministry. Photo: M. Karunakaran

Created amid the celebration of Tamil getting the Classical language status in 2004, the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) has been functioning without a permanent director for almost nine years.

After many attempts to find a suitable candidate through newspaper advertisements, only in April did an expert committee interview candidates. It selected one, but the file seeking his appointment is gathering dust at the Union Human Resource Ministry (HRD).

“The HRD Ministry first proposed the idea of Sanskrit Week and subsequently renamed Teachers Day as Guru Utsav. But it is unfortunate that it is not showing an iota of interest in making the CICT an efficient institution,” said Tamizhavan, a noted critic and former visiting Professor at Warsaw University.

When it was set up in March 2006, it was named the Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT) and functioned from the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore. In 2008, it was shifted to Chennai, thanks to the efforts of the DMK president and then Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, and renamed the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT).

It never had a permanent head. Prof. K. Ramasamy was appointed officer in-charge when it was established in 2006. He continued to hold the post even after it was shifted to Chennai. Later, Prof. S. Mohan was made director-in-charge.

Academics shocked

But what shocked the academics and Tamil scholars was the appointment of V.G. Bhooma as director in-charge. She is the Registrar of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, who belongs to the Indian Railway Personal Service (IRPS) and is now on deputation.

The Former MDMK MP, A. Ganeshamurthi, in a letter to the then HRD Minister, M.M. Pallam Raju, had said: “It is strange, deplorable and disquieting to have a non-academic as director-in-charge of a higher-level research establishment like the CICT, and it is a grave insult to the Tamils at large.”

In the beginning, the CICT functioned from the PWD guesthouse on the Kamaraj Salai, and the library was accommodated in the Assembly, after a new Secretariat was constructed on Anna Salai. Later, it was shifted to the Institute of Road Transport Office at Taramani, where it functions now.

The government has already allotted land for a permanent building at Perumbakkam.