Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday announced a two per cent reservation in select government positions for sportspersons from the state who win medals at national level games or those organised by the state government.
After unfurling the tricolour at Fort St George, Palaniswami said that it would also apply to those from TN who win laurels in recognised international tournaments or even represent the country there.
A high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary will draw the guidelines for implementation of this quota in the state government departments or its run PSUs, he added. "In order to honour the freedom fighters who had dedicated their lives for the cause of the country's freedom, their pension will be increased from Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000," Palaniswami said.
Hailing the contribution of freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu, he said the family pension provided to their next of kin would be hiked from Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,500.
Later, Palaniswami gave away various awards, including the Kalpana Chawla Award for bravery to I Muthumari, a labourer from Valparai in Coimbatore district. She was honoured with the award for "single-handedly" attacking and chasing away a leopard in May this year after it entered her house and attacked her 11-year-old daughter.
The CM said that though the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny against the British is believed to be the country's first war of Independence, a similar revolt had occurred in Vellore in 1806. He recalled the contributions of various freedom fighters like local rulers Veerapandia Kattabomman, Maruthu brothers, poet Mahakavi Bharathi, C Rajagopalachary, K Kamaraj and E V Ramasamy 'Periyar' in the independence struggle.
The Dhaksha (UAV) Team, Centre for Aerospace Research, Anna University was given the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Award for the year 2018. The four-member team of the varsity's faculty was honoured for developing three Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems to be used by various government departments.
FAIR GAME
- The positions are reserved for sportspersons from the Tamil Nadu who win medals at international, national and state level games.
- The TN government has also decided to increase pension of freedom fighters from Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000.
- The family pension provided to the kin of martyrs will be hiked from Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,500.
- The CM gave the Kalpana Chawla Award for bravery to I Muthumari, a labourer from Valparai in Coimbatore.
