The Governing Board of Central Institute of Classical Tamil opposed the reported move by the Centre to bring it under a central university and said it should not lose its autonomous status.
A resolution to this effect was adopted at the meeting of the board, chaired by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. Citing recent reports in a section of media that CICT will come under the ambit of Tiruvarur-based Central University of Tamil Nadu, it said: "The institute should not lose its autonomous status due to any reason."
Reports had claimed that CICT, set up by the Centre in 2008, would lose its autonomy if it came under the
administrative control of the central varsity. Functioning under the Union Human Resources Development
Ministry, the CICT is focused on Classical Tamil research till circa 600 AD. CICT must not be moved out of Chennai, the resolution passed at the fifth Governing Board meeting said. Also, the Union HRD Ministry should allot funds to strengthen research on Tamil literature and to new schemes for Tamil development, the resolution added.
An official release said the meeting discussed the CICT's work plan and its academic activities among others. Palaniswami is the chairperson of CICT, while P Prakasam is the Vice-Chairperson. Senior government officials participated in the meet.