A State-level essay competition for school and college students will be held to commemorate the country’s 75 th Independence Day, being celebrated as Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav, Governor R.N. Ravi has announced.
The topic for schoolchildren from Class VI to XII is “My favourite freedom fighter”. For college students, the topic is “India by 2047”. Students may write in English or Tamil. The essay should not exceed 10 pages of a A4 size sheet with 20 lines per page. The essays must include the contestant’s name, residential address, class/discipline in which they are studying; address of the educational institution and contact mobile number.
Two committees — one for Tamil and one for English — will evaluate the essays. While the Tamil essays will be evaluated by a committee headed by R. Chandrasekaran, director, Central Institute of Classical Tamil, the English language essays will be evaluated by a committee chaired by Sudha Seshayyan, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.
Three winners will be chosen in each category (separately for Tamil and English). The prizes for college-level essays will be ₹1 lakh (first prize); ₹75,000 (second prize); and ₹50,000 (third prize). For schoolchildren, the prize money is ₹75,000; ₹50,000; and ₹25,000 respectively. The cash and certificates will be awarded during the Independence Day celebrations at Raj Bhavan, Chennai.
Contestants may send the Tamil essays to The Director, Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chemmozhi Salai, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600100. English essays may be sent to The Vice-Chancellor, The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, No 69, Anna Salai, Guindy, Chennai – 600032.
All essays must reach the above addresses on or before 6 p.m. of August 1.