T.N. CM Stalin requests Union Minister to reschedule UGC-NET exam slated on Pongal
The HinduTamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to reschedule the UGC-NET Examinations as it falls on the most important festival of Tamil Nadu, Pongal. Since January 14 is the day on which the most important festival of Tamil Nadu, Pongal is celebrated this year, the Tamil Nadu government’s Minister for Higher Education had written to the Government of India’s Education Minister last month stating that this festival was a very important event in the State and celebrated as the harvest festival by all sections of the Tamil community. The government of Tamil Nadu has already declared January 14 to 17 as government holidays for this festival,” Mr. Stalin said. Pongal was not just a festival but a total embodiment of Tamil culture and traditional heritage that spans over 3000 years, Mr. Stalin said and underlined that it has also been pointed out that similar to Pongal festival, Makar Sankranti festival is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana too.