CHENNNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday announced that the works of his late father and five-time Tamil Nadu CM 'Kalaignar' M Karunanidhi would be nationalised.

An official release said that the chief minister has issued orders to nationalise all the books of the Kalaignar, without royalty, on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government.

Karunanidhi has penned dialogue and screenplay for 75 movies, 20 dramas, 15 short stories, and 210 poems, the government release said.

The works that are set to be nationalised include the 54-volume collected works of his 'Letters to the Cadre' ('Udanpirappu Kaditham'), a six-volume autobiography ('Nenjukku Needhi'), and a 12-volume collection of his Assembly speeches from 1957 to 2018.

Recalling the nationalisation of the works of 108 Tamil scholars and payment of Rs 7.76 crore royalty by Tamil Nadu during Kalaignar’s Chief Ministership, the government release said that the nationalisation of the works of such a great literarian and leader would provide a rare opportunity to Tamils around the world to read his works, including dramas like 'Anarkali', 'Ilaingan Kural' (Youth’s Voice), 'Orey Mutham' (Only Kiss), 'Kakithappu' (Paper Flower), 'Samrat Ashokan', and short stories like 'Sangili Samiyar', 'Kilavan Kanavu', 'Thaimai', 'Naadum Nadagamum', and 'Oru Maram Poothathu'.