REFUGEE

Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in camps in Tamil Nadu

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting called by by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to discuss the situation in the camps following a report in a Tamil magazine that the refugees are living in a pitiable condition with most camps lacking basic infrastructure.

The meeting decided to depute all the Ministers to the camps and come back with their recommendations before Nov 10 on improving housing and other amenities for the Tamils. Based on their report, follow-up action on how to spend the Rs 12 crore would be decided, an official release said.

The release said that soon the DMK returned to power in 2006, the GOvernment deputed Ministers to various camps and, based on their report, sent a request to the Government of India for assistance of Rs 16 crore to repair refugees' houses and improve basic infrastructure in their camps. With the Centre yet to to grant approval, the State Government set apart Rs 5 crore in the budget for 2009-10. After the Ministers' visit to the camps, an additional Rs 12 crore would be spent on upgrading basic facilities in the camp, the release said.

For the last several months, the refugees have been agitating for improved facilities and even observing fasts now and then in some camps. Periodically, newspapers have been highlighting their plight. Yet, the State Government has chosen to act only now, that too after the Chief Minister was "moved to tears" after reading about their pitiable conditions in a magazine article.