CHENNAI: PMK founder S Ramadoss has urged the central government to distribute the Tholkappiar Award instituted to honour scholars in classical Tamil, stating that it has not been awarded for the last 9 years.

The senior leader said that denying such awards is a betrayal of the Tamil language. "Despite several languages being declared as classical languages, Tamil alone has a Central Institute (Central Institute of Classical Tamil). Every year, Presidential awards including the Tholkappiar Award and Kural Peedam Award would be given. For 9 years, the awards have not been given," he added in a statement.

Pointing out that such awards are given to promote research apart from encouraging fresh literary contributions and promoting translations, Ramadoss lamented the Centre’s loss of interest. "Due to the lack of awards, the number of scholars researching on Tamil language will reduce. The government should not be doing this," he said.

Ramadoss also urged the government to upgrade the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) into a central university.