The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday named retired IAS officer and scholar R. Balakrishnan as the Director of the International Institute of Tamil Studies.Mr. Balakrishnan’s literary works include the much acclaimed Journey of a Civilization: Indus to Vaigai. An official release from the Tamil Nadu government said: “This appointment would provide fresh impetus to researches on Tamil language and culture.” Mr. Balakrishnan was among the first batch of students who cleared civil service examinations by writing them in Tamil, it said.An IAS officer of the 1984 (then Orissa) batch, Mr. Balakrishnan has authored about 15 books both in Tamil and English. He had served in various positions in the Odisha government as well as in the Election Commission of India. He had also served as the advisor to the Odisha Chief Minister until 2024, it said.Mr. Balakrishnan’s contributions and actions on the topics of Dravidian language family, Indus Valley Civilization, antiquity of ancient Tamil, Sangam Tamil literature and Thirukkural have been applauded by the Tamils across the globe, it said.Following the Second World Tamil Research Conference in then Madras in 1968, then Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai floated the idea of establishing an exclusive institute for Tamil studies. In 1970, the IITS was established under then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.The IITS aims to promote higher Tamil research studies in tune with the evolving environment, to work in collaboration with government and other educational institutions, in pursuit of its objectives.Published - February 27, 2025 12:30 am IST