Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's statue here would continue to be maintained by the government and handing over maintenance to others is not the practice, the Tamil Nadu government said on Thursday.
Responding to AIADMK top leader O Panneerselvam urging the government to hand over the maintenance of the statue to his party, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi said the late leader's statue in the Dr J Jayalalithaa campus is maintained well by the Public Works Department.
Since there is no practice of handing over maintenance of such statues to individuals or other bodies, the statue of the former Chief Minister would continue to be maintained well by the government, he said.
The statue is located in the Tamil Nadu state council for higher education campus which was rechristened 'Dr J Jayalalithaa campus' during the AIADMK regime.
To another demand of the AIADMK, the Minister said statues of leaders are garlanded only on their birth and death anniversaries, honouring their memory and this has all along been the convention.
"There is no custom of garlanding everyday the statue of any leader installed by the government," he said in a statement.
The government would continue to honour the former CM on February 24 every year on her birth anniversary, the Minister said.
