PMK MP Anbumani Ramadoss on Thursday requested the State and the Centre to offer financial assistance to set up a Tamil Chair at Harvard University, U.S. Stating that such a move would pave way for further research and development of the language, he said in a statement here that the BJP-led NDA government should contribute liberally to the cause as it was doing for the development of Sanskrit by spending huge money.
Dr. Anbumani said three Tamils --Thirugnanasambandam, Janakiraman and Arumugam -- in the US had succeeded in getting permission to set up a Chair in the Harvard University and they needed Rs. 40 crore towards the project. “They have decided to contribute one sixth of the amount and have plans to mobilise the rest from Tamils across the world. It is the duty of the Tamils, the State government and the centre to contribute to the cause,” he said.
Dr. Anbumani said the United Nations had already warned that Tamil was one of the languages that was vanishing fast and even after gaining the classical language status, no effort was made in the country to encourage research.
