Hon’ble Chief Minister Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi appreciated the efforts of Dr. G. John Samuel, Director of the Institute of Asian Studies, who drafted the proposal of the Govt. of Tamilnadu in 1996 for the declaration of Tamil as a Classical Language by the Govt. of India.

The Hon’ble Chief Minister has recalled this draft and translated into Tamil some of its salient points defending Tamil’s glorious past and its Classical status. Some of the clippings from the news papers of 27th and 28th December 2009 are given below.

Article in The Hindu (28th Dec 2009)
Article in The Rising Sun (3rd Jan 2010)
Article in Dinathanti (28th Dec 2009)
Article in Dinakaran (28th Dec 2009)

Dr. John Samuel’s report was sent to the Prime Minister of India and it was subsequently forwarded to the Central Institute of Indian Languages for perusal and suggestions. The CIIL has recommended the proposal and following this the Government has accorded Classical Status to Tamil in 2004.