In a tweet this evening, Union Human Resource Development Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced the appointment of Dr R Chandrasekharan as the Director of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai. The tweet read, "I feel happy to announce that Prof R Chandrasekharan, has been appointed as the first Director of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai. This shows our commitment to the promotion of Tamil language."

Dr R Chandrasekharan has been teaching as an Assistant Professor of Tamil at the Government Arts and Science College in Mullipuram, Kangeyam in the Tirupur district of Tamil Nadu. The vacancy was announced in May last year and the post can be held by Dr Chandrasekharan for three years and can be extended up to five years.  

CICT is an autonomous institute under the purview of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It is chaired by Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K Palaniswami. "The institute is involved in several research activities aimed at establishing the ancientness and uniqueness of Tamil and of Classical Tamil in particular and in propagating its findings globally," the description on the official website reads. The institute was earlier located at the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore but was later shifted to Chennai in May 2008.