Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the Centre is fully committed to popularize Tamil language and Culture and helping Sri Lankan Tamils. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Rs 31,530 crore worth of projects at the function held at Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.

Modi greeted the audience with vanakkam in Tamil. Inaugurating a few projects and laying foundation stones for railway, highways, petroleum and housing projects, it is always wonderful to be back in Tamil Nadu, said PM.

DMK Chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin urged Modi to allow Tamil as an National language on par with Hindi and also instruct to use Tamil in Madras High Court as an official language. Stalin shared dias with Modi and explained all-inclusive Dravidian Model, the asymmetry in financial relationship between the Centre and Tamil Nadu and sought the retrieval of Katchatheevu, assent for the anti-NEET Bill.

Stalin in his address said that Tamil Nadu’s contribution is critical to India’s development and Union government’s fiscal resources, Stalin said the tax share the State received from the Centre is only 1.2%. The Union government must increase its contribution to schemes and funds allocated to the State to do justice to the contributions made by States like Tamil Nadu to the country’s development and economy. Only then will the true spirit of co-operative federalism be upheld, he added.

PM said a Subramania Bharati Chair on Tamil Studies was recently instituted at Banaras Hindu University and since BHU is located in his constituency, it gave him more joy. The National Education Policy gives special importance to promoting Indian languages. Due to NEP, technical and medical courses can be learned in local languages. Youngsters from Tamil Nadu will benefit from this, he said. Earlier, the CM received the PM at INS Adyar and presented him an English translation of the earliest Tamil epic Silappathigaram.