CHENNAI, Dec 4: Knowledge of Tamil will henceforth be a must for confirmation as a Government employee, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture M Tamilkudimagan said, inaugurating a three-day world conference of the Tamil Nadu Elementary School Teachers' Federation today.He said an order would be passed soon to ensure that the employees on probation in the State Government must pass a test to be conducted on the basis of the Government publication, Atchi Tamil Nool. Only then will their services be confirmed, he said.Pointing out that the Government's decision to make Tamil a compulsory subject for study in the 1,008 minority institutions in the State was welcomed, he criticised those who opposed the move.People could not be deprived of their right to study in their mother tongue, he said, adding it was sad that a section of Tamilians were blocking implementation of the Official Languages Act (1956), which stated that Tamil would be the State's official language.He saidhenceforth, students of unrecognised schools, which did not teach Tamil, would not be admitted to recognised schools. Not even private candidates would be allowed, he added.Tamil was not taught merely in view of imparting language education or for employment purposes, but as a way to teach students about culture, he said, pointing out that Tamil had been reduced from a literary language to a language of entertainment. Assuring job opportunities for people who knew Tamil, he said the language was subject to abuse, especially on television.Listing out the Department of Tamil's efforts in sending 130 books each to 120 countries, he appealed to the respective Government departments to avail of the opportunity. He lamented that several universities did not show the enthusiasm in receiving the books sent to them, though the transportation cost was borne by the Tamil Nadu Government.The Minister, who also holds the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments portfolio, warned that the Government would takestrict action on complaints that temple archakas did not perform archanas in Tamil. ``The masses have been cheated for long in the name of Agamas and Manudharma and we shall not let it continue any longer,'' he said.Elementary Education director R Narayanasamy said the conference must debate on the ways to counter the influence a few English schools wielded on the majority of Tamil-medium schools. He said the shortcomings in Tamil-medium schools had become the strength of the English-medium institutions.
