Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the Sri Lankan Tamils Rehabilitation Camp at Thottanuthu village in Dindigul via video conferencing from Chennai on Wednesday.
Minister for Cooperation I. Periyasamy, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R. Sakkarapani and Minister for Minorities Welfare and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Gingee K.S. Masthan handed over the keys of the houses to the beneficiaries at Dindigul.
Also Read | Not ‘refugee’, but ‘rehabilitation’ camps for Lankan Tamils
The rehabilitation camp, spread over 3.5 hectares, has 321 houses constructed at a total cost of ₹17.84 crore. Each house under the project covers an area of 300 sq.ft. with a living room, kitchen, a bedroom and a toilet built at a cost of ₹4.95 lakh.
The camp has an overhead water tank with a capacity of 60,000 litre, cement and tar roads lined with streetlights and public toilet facilities etc. The project was completed within nine months since the foundation stone was laid in December last year.
Speaking at the event, Collector S. Visakan said the 70 families living in the camps were finally going to live in concrete houses after more than 30 years. The inmates of camps in Thottanuthu, Adiyanuthu and Gopalpatti villages will be accommodated here at the integrated camp.
A. Kalanayagi, one of the beneficiaries said former Chief Minister Karunanidhi was gracious enough to allocate thatched-roof houses in Adiyanoothu village when they (inmates of the three camps) sought refuge in Tamil Nadu after they fled their homeland in 1990.
Also Read | India raises Sri Lankan Tamil issue in U.N.
“Eventually, it became difficult to live in them during the summer and monsoon . We had petitioned for houses of our own and to fulfil our dream to live in a better condition. Now with the steps taken by the Chief Minister, our new camp does not only have concrete houses, but facilities such as anganwadi and a library,” she mentioned.
“A house that is safe and secure has been a dream that has been out of reach for us since 1990. We have spent many sleepless nights sheltered under a leaking roof during rains. As a widow with two children, poor living conditions were adding to our woes. But now, we have a beautiful home of our own, that I don’t think I would have been able to build one even on my homeland,” S. Selvanandhini, another beneficiary, told The Hindu.
Dindigul MP P. Velusamy, MLAs I.P. Senthil Kumar and S. Gandhirajan, Commissioner of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils Jacintha Lazarus, Mayor J. Ilamathi, District Revenue Officer V. Latha, Additional Collector C. Dinesh Kumar were present.
