Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has remembered and celebrated his father's and DMK's Patriarch M Karunanidhi's 97th birthday by unveiling major announcements including establishing a multispecialty hospital and a library in honour of his father, who was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for five times and was DMK's President for five decades.

MK Stalin has unveiled the announcements on Thursday when the state had marked Karunanidhi's 97th birth anniversary. The Chief Minister has announced a pile of projects including a multi-specialty hospital in South Chennai with 500 beds and a library in Madurai in honour of Karunanidhi. In a release, MK Stalin has highlighted the achievements of the late DMK leader during his reign in the state. 

The Chief Minister had then announced that a multi-specialty hospital with 500 beds will be inaugurated in King's Institute in Guindy in the memory of Karunanidhi. The cost of this project is estimated at Rs 250 crore. He further said that the hospital will be benefitting the people of Chennai and across the state. It must be noted that King Institute is one of the notable medical centres treating COVID-19 patients. 

MK Stalin has further said that a library in the name of his father will be inaugurated in Madurai and this project will be costing Rs 70 crore and will come up in two lakh square feet. He said that an award 'Illakiya Mamani', similar to 'Kalaimamani' will be conferred to Tamil writers to honour and motive them. The yearly award will be given to three writers along with a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh. 

The Chief Minister said that the state government will be constructing houses for the writers who were bestowed with awards like Sahitya Akademi, Gnana Peedam, and other states, national, and international awards in their respective home districts or the district they would like to live in. The drive of presenting houses to the writers has come as a bid to encourage what has been a less-spotlighted area.

Along with providing houses to the writers, MK Stalin said that the state government will be constructing several warehouses for paddy storage in Tiruvarur, Thiruthuraipoondi, Muthupettai, Mannarkudi, Kottur, Needamangalam, Nannilam, Kudavasal, Koradacheri, and Valangaimal for the betterment of the paddy farmers at the cost of Rs 24.30 crore to store 16,000-tonne paddy. He further said that paddy solar dryers and recycling equipment will be installed at the cost of Rs 6 crore at 54 places to avoid loss due to moisture.

Apart from making these announcements, Stalin has also announced financial assistance to police officers in the state. With the aim of honouring the service of the Tamil Nadu police department during the first and second waves of the pandemic, the government will award Rs 5,000 as monetary assistance to each police officer. Over 1.17 lakh police officers, from constables to inspectors, will be receiving this monetary assistance. 

The Chief Minister has said that the scheme for women to travel for free in whiteboard buses will be extended to trans persons and people with disabilities after the lockdown is lifted. MK Stalin has also unveiled several social welfare schemes on Thursday including providing Rs 2,000 to the rice ration cardholders in the state as a COVID-19 relief fund and green-flagged the distribution of 14 kinds of provisions to the ration cardholders through the Public Distribution System (Ration shops). He also had inaugurated the scheme of providing Rs 10 lakh for the family of the reporters who died due to the COVID-19 pandemic.