Whose all portraits could be displayed at Tamil Nadu govt offices?

CHENNAI: The chief minister's portraits are displayed at most government offices in Tamil Nadu, no matter whether it is the AIADMK rule or the DMK rule. The pictures of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru could be seen at some offices. Is there any rule in displaying the portraits of leaders at government offices? Whose all portraits could be displayed?

An RTI application filed by TOI has shown that the pictures of incumbent President, Prime Minister and chief minister, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, architect of the Constitution B R Ambedkar, poet Saint Thiruvalluvar, social reformer Thanthai Periyar, freedom fighters C Rajagopalachari, U Muthuramalinga Thevar, V O Chidambaram and Quaid -e-Millath and all former chief ministers, including Annadurai, K Kamaraj and others, could be displayed at the government offices.

In 2011, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court asked the then advocate general, A Navaneethakrishnan, to display the photographs of national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Saint Thiruvalluvar, B R Ambedkar and U Muthuramalinga Thevar at the government offices in the state.

Legal experts said portraits and photographs of most national leaders on the official list were not seen at government offices. Advocate B Stalin of Melur, who had filed a contempt of court application against the then chief secretary, Debendranath Sarangi, for not putting up the photos of the freedom fighters in Tamil Nadu, said the state had not followed the court order thus far.

"Almost all the government offices in Tamil Nadu have the photographs of the chief minister. But only a few of them have the portraits of the diseased freedom fighters. Government offices continue to ignore their contributions to the country," he said.

Stalin said most government offices had not shown any interest in displaying the pictures of national leaders and freedom fighters. "The photographs of leaders like B R Ambedkar, U Muthuramalinga Thevar, V O Chidambaram, Quaid-e-Millath and Indira Gandhi are not displayed," he said.

A government order dated 1989 said that portraits of the current chief minister and former chief ministers could be kept at the government offices without spending money from the exchequer. However, activists said government money had been spent to display the pictures of the chief minister or former chief ministers in the state.

A senior government official said there was no mandatory rule on displaying portraits of all leaders. "We have taken steps to display portraits of most leaders at the offices. But the head of the concerned department has to take a final call," he said.

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