Tiruvalluvar, Bharati birthdays in schools

Chennai: Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani has on Saturday announced in New Delhi that her ministry will observe the birth anniversaries of Tamil savant Tiruvalluvar and poet Bharatiyar, every year in schools. January 15 is marked as Tiruvalluvar Day and is a public holiday in Tamil Nadu and the Union territory of Puducherry while the birth anniversary of Subramanya Bharathi falls on December 11.

Ms Irani has made the assurance to Union minister of state for shipping, road transport and highways P. Radhakrishnan and BJP MP Tarun Vijay who called on her to personally thank her for Friday’s announcement in the Rajya Sabha, accepting Tarun's plea.“After Tarun Vijayji’s request in the Rajya Sabha which was supported by all members I am happy to announce that Tiruvalluvar’s birth anniversary will be celebrated in schools from next year onwards,” she had said.

All the members had unanimously supported a demand from BJP MP Tarun Vijay for the celebration of Tiruvalluvar’s birth anniversary nationally. She further said that books in Hindi and English on Tiruvalluvar’s life and his masterpiece, the Tirukkural, would be distributed in schools and that the Central government would monitor the distribution of these books and their reception by students.

Elocution and essay competitions would also be organised in schools across the country to mark the birth anniversary.“We also requested her to do this for (freedom fighter) Subramanya Bharathi and she said her ministry would look into it,” Mr Radhakrishnan said. “This move will help build national solidarity in the field of education,” according to BJP leader Tarun Vijay