TN budget schemes: Remembering Vallalar, Periyar and K Anbazhagan

The Tamil Nadu government’s 2022-23 budget has set aside more than ₹7,000 crore to promote projects in memory of three men who played key roles in shaping the state’s culture and history: saint Vallalar, reformer Periyar, the educationist K Anbazhagan.

Ramalinga Adigal, or Vallalar, was one of the most famous Tamil saints and poets of the 19th Century. He preached compassion for all living beings and once said: “Whenever I see a wilted plant, I too wilt”. Vallalar founded the Samarasa Suddha Sanmarga Sathya Sangam mutt in Cuddalore.

In order to commemorate his 200th birth anniversary, which falls next year, the government will launch ‘Vallalar Palluyir Kappagangal’. The scheme, which will have an outlay of ₹20 crore, will help NGOs take care of abandoned animals, including pets and cattle.

The government also allocated ₹5 crore to translate the writings of Periyar EV Ramasamy, the social reformer, into 21 languages. Periyar, a rationalist, was the founder of Dravidar Kazhagam, the parent organisation of both the DMK and AIADMK.

“It is the duty of this government to spread his message and writings across the world so that the whole of humanity can benefit from his progressive ideas,” Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said in his budget speech.

K Anbazhagan was the second in command of the party until his death. The former minister for education is fondly referred as ‘Perasiriyar’ (professor, because he served as lecturer of Tamil at Pachaiyappa’s College in Chennai between 1944 and 1957). His birth centenary is this year, and the government will commemorate it by launching the ‘Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme’ to modernise government schools over the next five years.

With a budget of  ₹7,000 crore, the scheme will see construction of 18,000 new classrooms.