The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Infrastructure at Sri Lankan refugee camps will be improved within a week: Minister

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Tamil Nadu

Infrastructure at Sri Lankan refugee camps will be improved within a week: Minister

Staff Reporter

Some families at the camp wanted to stay back in India; women demand setting up of health centre

Photo: N. Bashkaran.

Spot study: Women refugees at the Vaniyar Dam camp in Dharmapuri district highlighting their demands to Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan (second left) on Wednesday. V. Mullaivendan (left), Morappur MLA, Collector P. Amutha (third left) and R. Thamaraiselvan (right), Dharmapuri MP, are in the picture. —

KRISHNAGIRI: Infrastructure facilities at the eight Sri Lankan refugee camps in Dharmapuri district would be improved within a week, Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan has said.

The Minister visited the camps on Wednesday to study the living condition of the Sri Lankan Tamil families following the Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s directive to Ministers to visit the camps. About 2,484 persons from 668 families, including 640 children, are residing at the refugee camps in Harur, Vaniyar Dam, Thoppaiyar, Nagavathy Dam, Thumbalahalli, Chinnar Dam, Kesarguni Dam and Madhikonpalayam in Dharmapuri district.

Over 200 families are staying in the Vaniyar Dam camp for the past two decades. Elders at the camp said they wanted to stay back in India. They fear that if they go back, they would lose their children.

Women urged the Minister to provide basic infrastructure facilities such as kitchen, a library, children’s park, water facility for the common toilet, bus facility from Pappireddipatti, improve the bus trip, as they have to trek at least a km. to catch the town bus, more number of bore wells and repairing of existing street light. As the lights were not enough they demanded additional streetlights.

A woman urged the Minister to create a sub-health centre. She said that even for emergency medical assistance they had to travel at least 7 kms.

The refugees also demanded increase in monthly allotment of kerosene from 3 litres to 10 litres and increase the quantity of rice, sugar etc. They also urged the Government to supply toor, urid dal, maida, rava and fortified atta etc.

Some women said that they were deprived of the financial assistance scheme for 2 girl children in a family.

As the families have been residing here for more than two decades, many refugee girls and boys married locally. Locally married Indian citizen were denied ration and other assistance available for the refugees, they laments.

A woman said they are not getting seats in government colleges for their children after finishing Plus-Two and they are forced to admit them in private institutions by paying hefty fees.

An elderly person thanked the Chief Minister for doubling the financial assistance.Earlier, the Minister inspected the camp in Harur, where 12 families were put up in an asbestos shed which belong to a regulated market. The members in the camp demanded that rice and other ration items should be supplied to them before 10th of every month. They urged the Minister to extend the free CTV, gas connection with stove etc to them also.

Collector P. Amutha, Morappur MLA V. Mullaivendan, Dharmapuri MP R. Thamaraiselvan among others accompanied the Minister.

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