The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Sangamam' surplus funds to be utilised for deserving cause

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Saturday, Mar 10, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Sangamam' surplus funds to be utilised for deserving cause

Special Correspondent

Rs.39 lakh will be used to train needy children in various art forms

CHENNAI : A sum of Rs.39 lakh, outstanding after paying expenses relating to Chennai Sangamam, will be channelled for training underprivileged children in various art forms, Tamil Maiyam member Jegath Gaspar Raj told presspersons on Friday.

The organisation was in the process of selecting NGOs through whom the activities could be channelised, he added.

A total sum of Rs.2.95 crore had come as sponsorship from corporates and of this, Rs.2.56 crore had been spent on conducting Chennai Sangamam.

Over 780 folk artistes, 166 Carnatic singers, 89 Western classical musicians, 67 poets and Tamil scholars and 20 painters participated in the seven-day event that took place between February 20 and 27 in Chennai.

Their boarding and lodging requirements were taken care of and food, water and medical treatment were provided, apart from a per diem of Rs.800 per artiste.

The Rs.2.95 crore was received as sponsorship and donations from about 30 corporates who saw the event as an occasion for advertising their products, K.Pandiarajan of Tamil Maiyam said.

Denying allegations that the event had received special favours, including funds, from the government, he said the government was only a partner in conducting the Sangamam. It had facilitated the use of public places like parks, government halls and the beach for the different shows and hostels to put up the artistes.

No demands had been made on any government department and participation, if any, had been voluntary. Kanimozhi, one of the organisers of Chennai Sangamam, said the Sangamam as a concept did not belong to Tamil Maiyam.

Anyone was free to take up the idea and organise such programmes, either in Chennai or in the rest of the State.

Chennai Sangamam, however, would be an annual feature henceforth during the Pongal festival that Tamil Maiyam would co-ordinate with other partners similarly inclined towards promotion of Tamil culture and arts, she said

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