Left leader Nallakannu donates prize money to TN govt

Chennai: Veteran Left leader R Nallakannu on Sunday gave the Rs 10 lakh prize money he received from Chief Minister M K Stalin to the Public Relief Fund, together with his contribution of Rs 5,000.

As part of the Independence Day Celebrations, Stalin conferred the state government’s Eminent Tamilian Award (Thagaisal Tamizhar Virudhu) for 2022 on veteran Communist Party of India leader, the 96-year old R Nallakannu.

The award, with a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, is in honour of the Left leader’s 80 years of service to the poor, ordinary and marginalised sections of people and his participation in the freedom movement, the citation said.

Immediately on receipt of the cheque, Nallakannu handed over to Stalin the cheque (prize money of Rs 10 lakh) in addition to his own contribution of Rs 5,000 (in total, Rs 10,05,000) favouring the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. This gesture of the Communist leader was welcomed and lauded by people in social media.