Work under way at the junction in Egmore to reinstall Si Pa Aditanar?s statue.(Photo: Justin George) 
Chennai

CM: Statue to be reinstalled before Aditanar birth anniversary

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday said that the statue of Si Pa Aditanar, which was removed from Aditanar Salai for refurbishing the traffic island, with a view to easing traffic congestion, would be reinstalled before the birth anniversary of the Daily Thanthi’s founder and former Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker.

migrator

Chennai

Delving deep into the legacy of Aditanar, Palaniswami observed that Aditanar launched the Daily Thanthi breaking the jinx of newspaper reading being reserved to the elite and making it reachable for all sections of the society through easy language even while catering to the self-respect of Tamils, besides enriching the language.

Eulogising Aditanar, the CM noted that Aditanar had the love and affection of former CM and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran which translated into naming the road after Aditanar besides installing a statue at that junction on May 24, 1987.

“I received a representation from Daily Thanthi management on Wednesday to expedite the work for the statue’s pedestal and reinstall it in view of Aditanar’s birth anniversary on September 27. In line with that, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is involved in the work of building the concrete basement and a pedestal over it. I have instructed them to finish the work by September 20 to facilitate Aditanar’s birth anniversary celebrations,” the CM said.

The rest of the work, which involves beautification of the platform and setting up of the traffic island, would be completed by December, the CM said.

The statue was removed in concurrence with Daily Thanthi’s management earlier in May this year.

DMK working president MK Stalin and several other political leaders had sought the State government to reinstall the statue before Aditanar’s birth anniversary this year.

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