At a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Pranab Mukherjee will present the ‘Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil’ for the years 2011-12 and 202-13 respectively. The Presidential awards for Classical Tamil will give due recognition and honour to the distinguished scholars who have made contribution to classical Tamil language and literature.
Under this scheme, a total number of eight awards are given for each year. The awards are:
Tholkappiyar Award: This is a life time achievement award for Indian scholar which is given to distinguished scholars with an outstanding contribution in the field of Tamil studies each year. The award carries a certificate of honour, a memento and a one-time cash award of rupees five lakh.
Kural Peedam Award: Two international awards, one each for persons of Indian origin and another for a person of non-Indian origin are given to the eminent scholars of Classical Tamil for each year. It includes a certificate of honour, a memento and a one-time cash award of rupees five lakh.
Young Scholar Award: Five awards are given to young scholars in the age group of 30-40 years for each year. Those scholars who have publications to their credit and have shown interest in Tamil studies and have excelled in it are given these awards. It includes a certificate of honour, a memento and a one-time cash award of rupees one lakh.
For 2011-2012 following are the scholars selected for the Presidential Award:
Tholkappiyar Award is given to Dr. Thiru S.V. Shanmugam
Kural Peedam Award is given to a foreigner Dr. Tirumathi Eva Maria Wilden
Young Scholar award is given to Dr. K. Ayyapan, Dr. Ehil Vasanthan, Dr. K. Jawahar
For the year 2012-13, the awards are given to:
Tholkappiyar Award is given to Dr. Thiru R. Krishnamurthi
Young Scholar award has been given to five scholars, Dr. A. Satish, Dr. R. Venkatesan, Dr. P. Jay Ganesh, Dr. M.R. Devaki, and Dr. U. Ali Bava.
