The President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented the ‘Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil’ for the year 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil were instituted to give recognition and honour to distinguished scholars who have made outstanding contribution to Classical Tamil language and literature.
The Tholkappiyar award for the year 2013-14 was conferred on Dr S N Kandaswamy while the young scholar award was given to Dr Ula Balasubramaniyan, Dr kalai Cheziyan, Dr S Rajalakshmi, Dr T Mahalakshmi and Dr S Psalvanisree.
The Tholkappiyar award for the year 2014-15 was conferred on Dr A Dakshinamurthy and the young scholar award for the year was given to Dr A Sathish, Dr J Muthuselvan, Dr P Thirugnanasammandam, Dr A Vasanthakumari and and Dr G Sathish.
The Tholkappiyar award for the year 2015-16 was conferred on Dr R Kalaikkovan and the young scholar award to Dr M Vabnitha, Dr V Prakash,, Dr S Premkumar, Dr G Balaji and Dr M Munees Moorthy.
The Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil were instituted by Central Institute of Classical Tamil functioning under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Tholakpiyyar Award is a life time achievement award for Indian scholar given for an outstanding contribution in the field of Tamil studies. This award carries a certificate of honour, a memento and a one-time cash award of Rs. 5 Lakh.
Kural Peedam Award: These are two international awards; one for persons of Indian origin and another for a person of non-Indian origin who have been identified as eminent scholars of Classical Tamil. This award carries a certificate of honour, a memento and a one-time cash award President Pranab Mukherjeeof Rs. 5 lakh.
Young Scholar Award: Five awards are given to young scholars in the age group of 30- 40, who have publications to their credit and have shown interest in Tamil studies. This award carries a certificate of honour, a memento and a one-time cash award of Rs. 1 lakh.
