MADURAI: After an uproar from opposition, PWD Minister EV Velu took back his words, regretting his remarks of calling the Madurai bench of Madras High Court in Madurai as an ‘alms’ by former chief minister M Karunanidhi.
It’s Karunanidhi, who upgraded Madurai as Corporation next to Chennai and its’ the same leader, who brought the High Court bench in Madurai. “While eulogising Karunanidhi, who deserved praise for his charity, the word defining his charity work slipped off my tongue when I became emotional,” the Minister clarified on Wednesday.
Further, Velu pointed out that he had the highest respect and regard for the judiciary.
Inspecting the much-awaited Kalaignar Memorial Library works, which are in the finishing stages, the Minister said, since July 15 was celebrated as ‘Education Development Day’ on the birth anniversary of former CM K Kamaraj, the inauguration of this memorial library in Madurai would have special significance.
At the inaugural ceremony, Minister Velu said the programme is scheduled to be held at about 600 meters away from the library in Madurai. The Minister added that discussions were also held with officials on organising this grand event on July 15.
With the inauguration just days away, some of the personnel are engaged in putting the final touches to be entirely over by July 10. The library would have plenty in store for readers. A lot of books costing Rs 60 crore would be available in languages of Tamil and English.
The library features furniture at a cost of Rs 18 crore and computers at Rs 5 crore. Following the footsteps of Karunanidhi, former five-time chief minister, who built the Anna Centenary Library in the memory of former CM CN Annadurai at Kotturpuram in Chennai, the current CM MK Stalin, who delivers the governance of ‘Dravidian Model’, has established the Kalaignar memorial library in Madurai to commemorate the centenary year of Karunanidhi, he said.
Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P Moorthy, Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Madurai North MLA G Thalapathi, Madurai South MLA M. Boominathan and officials accompanied the PWD Minister during the inspection, sources said.