CHENNAI: Minister for

culture

on Wednesday justified teaching additional languages, including

, at the International Tamil Research Centre here. He said learning another language would help students.

“Students say Hindi will help them more than any other local language,” said Pandiarajan while talking to reporters here.

DMK on Tuesday criticised the Tamil culture department for allocating Rs 6 lakh for M Phil students and research scholars at the International Tamil Research Centre to learn Hindi. “Pandiarajan has changed his ministry into a Tamil destruction ministry,” accused DMK leader and former school education minister Thangam Thennarasu.

Reacting to Tennarasu’s statement, the minister said DMK leaders were owning several CBSE schools across the state. “In all these schools, students should learn Hindi. But DMK leaders are criticising others who learn the language,” said the minister.

Pandiarajan said former chief minister J Jayalalithaa introduced in 2014 the policy to teach additional languages -- a local language and a foreign language -- at the International Tamil Research Centre.

He said, "Many students, after completing their courses, work in various places across the country. Students from the centre are working in JNU, Delhi University, Guwahati University, Punjab University and other universities across the country. It is not enough for these students to know only Tamil, but they need to learn additional second languages.”

The minister said this year M Phil students and research scholars chose Hindi and

as additional languages.

“We did not ask them to choose Hindi but the students themselves chose Hindi and French. While this year it may be Hindi and French, next year the students may want to learn Telugu or Bengali and German or any other foreign language as additional languages,” said Pandiarajan.