Eminent Tamil scholar V. Padhumanar and historian A.R. Venkatachalapathy, were honoured with the Mahavidwan Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai Award and the Dr. U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer Award by the Dr. U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai, at a function held at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai, on Tuesday.

Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar presented the awards, citations and cash prizes in the presence of G. Viswanathan, the library chairman and chancellor, VIT, and G.V. Selvam, vice-president, VIT.

Mr. Padhumanar was presented the award for his contribution to Tamil language, while Mr. Venkatachalapathy received the award in recognition of his contribution to Tamil history and research.

Mr. Prabhakar also released a book on Nannool, with Mr. Selvam receiving the first copy.

Mr. Viswanathan called upon political parties in Tamil Nadu to work together for the development of the State and the country, referring to the political systems of the Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, adding that the political parties there demonstrated cooperation on issues concerning national development, a press release said.