Chennai, Jan 16 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi paid floral tributes to a portrait of Tamil savant-poet Thiruvalluvar kept at his statue on the Marina here on the occasion of Thiruvalluvar day while Chief Minister M K Stalin paid tributes to the saint at his statue at Valluvar Kottam here on Monday.

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The Chief Minister gave away the Thiruvalluvar award for 2023 to Iraniyan N K Ponnusamy, Arignar Anna award to Ubayatullah, Kamarajar award to former Union Minister E V K S Elangovan, Bharathiyar award to A R Venkatachalapathy, Pavendar Bharathidasan award to 'Walajah' Vallavan.

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Besides, Stalin presented the Thiru Vi Ka award to Namakkal P Velsamy, K A P Viswanathan award to poet Mu Metha, Thanthai Periyar award to Dravidar Kazhagam vice president and poet Kali Poongundram, Ambedkar award to scholar S V Rajadurai and Devaneyapavanar award to Prof R Mathivanan.

Also, the Chief Minister launched the 'Vallalar Palluyir Kappagangal' scheme, with an outlay of Rs 20 crore, to support non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to take care of abandoned and injured pets and stray animals. This is a maiden initiative for providing treatment to the abandoned and injured animals under the name of Vallalar, a Tamil saint known for spreading kindness in society.

State Youth Welfare and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister T M Anbarasan, Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P K Sekar Babu, and Chennai Mayor R Priya were among those who participated.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)