People's Democracy

CHENNAI

Writers, Educationists Oppose Library Shifting

S P Rajendran

THE Tamilnadu government's decision to shift the Anna Centenary Library in Kotturpuram, Chennai, to the proposed Integrated Knowledge Park on the DPI campus in Nungambakkam has evoked strong dissent from writers, educationists and students.

While no one is opposed to the idea of a fully equipped super speciality hospital coming up for children, writers and others who frequent the library have urged the government to revoke its decision to shift the fully functional library that has become a storehouse of knowledge and a key landmark in the city.

Criticising the government strongly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) urged it to drop the decision that is being opposed by Tamil scholars, educationalists and students.

CPI(M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan said the AIADMK had taken this decision just because it was built by the previous DMK regime. He asked the chief minister to focus, in its stead, on vital issues such as taming inflation, creating new jobs and filling up vacant posts in government departments.

The Tamilnadu Progressive Writers and Artists' Association (TNPWAA) has deplored the decision. S Tamilselvan and Su Venkatesan, president and secretary respectively of the TNPWAA, said this decision was “shocking and painful” for all those interested in the important contribution of libraries to the development of society. The association is to organise statewide protests if the state government does not revoke its decision.

The library, set up at a cost of Rs 180 crore on eight acres, was a “dream of educationists,” they said. According to sources in the Directorate of Public Libraries, the library currently has over five lakh books sourced from different parts of India. Users can also access several academic journals published in other countries through the digital interface created there.

The AIADMK government's move is “politically motivated” and meant to snub the former DMK government, they said. The reasons given for the decision were not acceptable and the DPI campus, a place visited by people from several sections, would not be suitable for a library, they said in a statement.

Senior writers, including recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award, have expressed shock over the decision. “The government should abandon the idea of shifting the library and do all it can to ensure smooth functioning of the library in its current premises in Kotturpuram,” said a statement, signed by acclaimed writers such as Sa Kandasamy, Ashokamitran, Indira Parthasarathy, Nanjil Nadan, Sirpri Balasubramanian and S Ramakrishnan.

Student and youth organisations too have expressed disappointment. The Tamilnadu state committees of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the Students Federation of India (SFI) wondered why the state government, which had given thousands of acres for the establishment of industries by multinational companies, should choose to shift the library for constructing a paediatric hospital.

They suggested that the state government could take over the lands, which were given on lease to private individuals for a paltry amount, and utilise them for welfare schemes.

On November 3, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that the building housing the Anna Centenary Library (ACL) in Kotturpuram, Chennai, would be converted to accommodate a super speciality paediatric hospital.