Coimbatore, June 27: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today heaped praise on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and his band of ministers for the massive success of the World Tamil Semmozhi Conference which concluded here today.
Speaking at the valedictory, Pranab Mukherjee said the Chief Minister had personally overseen the arrangements for the conference which was held on an unprecedented scale. He said Karunanidhi had made stupendous efforts to make the conference a massive success.
Describing the Chief Minister as a “man of perfection”, Pranab said meticulous planning had gone into the conference. The exhibitions were a huge success with thousands of visitors queuing up to see the exhibits. Lakhs of people had lined the roads to see the floats arranged for the conference, Pranab pointed out.
Tamil scholars from all over the world had attended the conference during which over 1,000 research papers were presented from over 50 countries, Pranab said.
The UPA government had conferred classical language status on Tamil, which it richly deserved, Pranab said, adding that Karunanidhi had played an instrumental role in the decision of the UPA government at the Centre.
Home Minister Chidambaram said while the Semmozhi conference was an unprecedented success due to the efforts of the Chief Minister, the gains of the conference must be consolidated through extensive research in the fields of linguistic Tamil, medical Tamil, legal Tamil, educational Tamil, scientific Tamil, IT Tamil, technology Tamil and in all fields so that crores of Tamils would benefit for thousands of years to come.
 There were problems in identifying books in Tamil for several subjects while students, professors and universities looked at one another for solutions. Chidambaram suggested that Rs 10 crore be provided for publication of books on various subjects so that more courses could be offered in Tamil.
Union Communications and IT Minister A Raja released special postage stamps on the Semmozhi conference, which he described as a first-of-its-kind in the ministry, and on Kumaraguruparar Swamigal, in the presence of the Chief Minister.
Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin and Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers M K Azhagiri were seated on the dais, as also Union Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister K Anbazhagan, state chief secretary K S Sripathi, special officer of the conference K Alauddin and Coimbatore collector Umanath.
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