Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday announced a new annual literary award to honour outstanding writing in several Indian languages.

The award will be given by the Tamil Nadu government and will carry a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh for each selected language.

The new award has been named “Semmozhi Illakiya Virudhu (Classical Language Literary Award)”. In the first phase, it will recognise the best literary works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odiya, Bengali, and Marathi.

The Chief Minister said these would be national-level awards, presented every year.

MK Stalin made the announcement while speaking at the valedictory event of the Chennai International Book Fair.

During his speech, he referred to concerns raised by writers over the cancellation of the Sahitya Akademi awards announcement, which he said followed alleged intervention by the Union Culture Ministry.

The Chief Minister said uncertainty around literary awards was worrying and warned that political interference in art and literature could be harmful.

He said many writers and representatives of literary organisations had approached him seeking a “constructive counter-action plan” in response to the situation.

“We also have a realisation that this is the need of the hour and I would like to make an announcement that will make you all happy,” he said.

MK Stalin said the Tamil Nadu government would act as a patron for the awards but would not interfere in the selection process.

“In order to ensure the quality of literary works and transparency, a committee will be set up for each language, comprising reputed writers,” he said.

Independent experts will be responsible for selecting the award winners to ensure fairness and quality.

The Chief Minister said the new awards aim to support writers across Indian languages and protect the freedom of literature.

With this move, the Tamil Nadu government hopes to encourage creative writing and recognise literary excellence beyond state boundaries.