Minister urges public to visit Chithirai exhibition to learn about government schemes

To create awareness among the masses of schemes rolled out by the State government is more an important goal than generating revenue from the government exhibitions held in major cities every year, said Minister for Information and Publicity M.P. Saminathan on Saturday.

To create awareness among the masses of schemes rolled out by the State government is more an important goal than generating revenue from the government exhibitions held in major cities every year, said Minister for Information and Publicity M.P. Saminathan on Saturday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the 213th annual Chithirai exhibition, organised by the Department of Information and Publicity at Tamukkam Grounds here. Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, Collector S. Aneesh Sekhar, and Mayor Indirani Ponvasanth were present. He urged Maduraiites to visit the exhibition without fail

He noted that over 7.42 lakh people had visited the government exhibitions conducted in Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli last year and a revenue of over ₹3.07 crore was earned.

He added that the footfall in the exhibition held in Madurai last year touched above 1.5 lakh visitors and a revenue of ₹54.33 lakh was generated.

Mr. Saminathan said that statues of freedom fighters Kuyili, Vaalukku Veli Ambalam, Venni Kaaladi, King Pulithevar and language martyr Keezhapazhur Chinnasamy would be installed at a cost of around ₹50 lakh each in respective regions.

The Minister said QR codes would be made available on all the memorials, manimandapam and statues under the control of the department in order to make it easier for the youth to learn about the marvels.

Subsequently, the Minister distributed financial assistance worth over ₹1.2 crore as well as 2,200 grams of gold coins (8 grams of gold each) worth over ₹1.23 crore to 275 women beneficiaries on behalf of the Department of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment.