Puducherry: Vice-President of India Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan unfurled the bust of Mahakavi Subramania Bharatiyar at the Bharatiyar Memorial in Puducherry. This event reaffirms as a fitting tribute to the great poet whose fearless writings not only brought about a change in the literature written in Tamil but also awakened the nation.
Expressing deep pleasure on the occasion, the Vice-President stated, it is a moment of intense pleasure to dedicate the statue of the great Bharatiyar on the same soil that the great man called home with passion and fervour for nearly a decade. He asserts that Puducherry had provided the great bard a milieu of intellectual liberation and brilliance to pour out his thoughts and feelings unadorned.
This period of the late poet had marked a deep plunge into philosophical research and the pursuit of wisdom incorporated within the records of his life, which are regarded as the 'golden age of modern Tamil literature' to which period belongs his 'best work' and which had deeply influenced our national life and national literature."
Later in the day, the Vice-President launched a housing project as part of the Smart Cities Mission and honoured the beneficiaries of 216 new tenements in Puducherry. The project is intended to provide respectable and affordable housing to city slum dwellers and has been personally overseen by Shri Radhakrishnan, as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, during his tenure.
Interacting with the beneficiaries, the Vice-President congratulated them on receiving their new homes and was pleased with the early completion of the project. Beneficiaries took the opportunity to thank the Vice-President for taking the trouble to ensure that the project was completed early.
The Vice-President praised the far-sighted leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in initiating the “Mission of Housing For All,” adding that the need for proper housing has been fundamental in enabling social and economic empowerment.
The Vice-President expressed praise for the Puducherry administration in their effective administration of the housing project initiated under the Smart Cities Mission and in ensuring that these benefits are extended to their target groups. Day-long events showcased the complementary elements of cultural tribute and progress for Puducherry, thereby symbolising the Indian government’s dedication towards the preservation of the rich literary traditions of the country alongside the progress it makes towards the development of the urban culture of the citizens.