Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami conferred over 200 artists in the state with the coveted Kalaimamani award and various other awards for their contribution to art forms in Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2018 at Chennai on Tuesday.
The awards, which were announced in March this year, were conferred after a gap of eight years and were awarded to 201 artists from 72 fields of art. Among them, eight senior artists were selected for the government’s financial assistance scheme.
The Kalaimamani awards are conferred by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram to artists in the state to felicitate them for their achievements in performing arts and literature every year. Over 1,500 artists have been bestowed with the award till date.
While presenting the awards in the city at an event organised by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, EPS announced that the weight of the gold medal awarded to the artists as a part of the Kalaimamani award will be increased from three sovereigns to five henceforth. The CM also announced that the amount of pension that is provided to senior artists will be raised to Rs. 3,000 per month from this year.