From correspondents in Delhi, India, 04:04 PM IST

The Communist Party of India (CPI) Tuesday asked the government to form a committee headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of poet Rabindranath Tagore in 2010 a 'national event'.

Raising the matter during the zero hour in Lok Sabha, CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta said Tagore was not only a renowned poet, but also a social reformer who fought against fundamentalism and other social evils.

Recalling the poet's association with Mahatma Gandhi, he said the 'government should take immediate steps' to make it a national event.

A committee, consisting of noted writers, social, cultural and political luminaries, should be set up under the prime minister, to commemorate the Nobel laureate's 150th birth anniversary, Dasgupta demanded.

Tagore was born on May 6, 1861.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)