CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday nationalised the literary works of late chief minister M Karunanidhi, handing over the Government Order (GO) to his wife Rajathi Ammal.
State Minister for Information and Publicity and Tamil Development, MP Saminathan, presented the GO to Rajathi Ammal at her CIT Colony residence here.
The ceremony was attended by Karunanidhi's daughter and DMK deputy general secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.
The nationalisation of Karunanidhi's literary works follows Chief Minister MK Stalin's announcement to make the late leader's books available to the public without any compensation from the government.
Speaking to reporters after handing over the GO, Minister Saminathan said, "So far, 179 works of Tamil scholars have been nationalised, and Rs 14.42 crore has been given as compensation to their heirs. However, Kalaignar's (Karunanidhi's) books have been nationalised without any compensation."
Saminathan also expressed his gratitude to the family members of Karunanidhi on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government, the Tamil Development department, and the writers.
With this nationalisation, Karunanidhi's literary works will soon be uploaded to the web portal of the Tamil Virtual Academy, where nationalised books of various leaders are already available.