The State government will never hesitate to spend more on education, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said on Thursday.
Declaring open a block named after him on the campus of Queen Mary’s College here, the Chief Minister referred to the demand made by speakers including Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for constructing some more buildings on the premises. If the details regarding the requirements of the College were furnished him, the government would respond favourably.
The present building [constructed at a cost of about Rs.3.2 crore] had been raised with a view to making the environment of the College more conducive to the acquisition of knowledge.
Recalling how, during the previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime, Mr Stalin, K. Ponmudy [now Higher Education Minister] and others went to the support of agitating teachers and students of the College following the move to demolish the college building for housing the Secretariat complex, the Chief Minister said that on receiving information regarding certain incidents, it was the duty of the government to enquire into it and take action. It would not behove of those in power to unleash repression.
Lauding former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj for his services in the field of education, Mr Karunanidhi said while Kamaraj was instrumental in opening schools in villages, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government had been establishing colleges.
Presiding over the function, Mr Stalin traced the history of the College and said the institution had produced stalwarts including Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Lakshmi Seghal, T.N. Anandanayaki and Maragatham Chandrashekhar. The DMK government had been attaching importance to education and implementing various welfare measures for students.
K. Ponmudy, Higher Education Minister, said that against the allocation of Rs. 19.52 crore during the AIADMK regime towards building works in government colleges, a sum of Rs. 220.13 crore was provided in the last four years. K. Ganesan, Principal Secretary (Higher Education), said that a library building for the Queen Mary’s College would be constructed at a cost of Rs. 60 lakh.
Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister for Textiles, was among those who participated in the function.
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