Ministers assure facilities to refugees

INDIA: Assuring all basic amenities to the Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka staying across Tamil Nadu, State Ministers K K S S R Ramachandran and A Tamilarasi have visited the refugee camps at Uchapatti and Anayur in Madurai district.

The Ministers, who were accompanied by the district Collector P Seetharaman yesterday, said they would brief about the conditions prevailing in the camps to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. The Ministers would take up the grievances faced by the refugees and try to redress them, an official release said here today.

The refugees told the Ministers that they would never forget the warmth and love shown by both the Tamil Nadu government and the people of the State.

Some of the refugees asked the Ministers to provide them driving licences so that they could be self employed.

The Ministers had given orders to repair the dwellings in the camps, which were found in a bad condition and asked the officials to initiate steps to solve the drinking water problems in Anaiyur camp.

The government was spending Rs 1.8 million every month for the welfare of the refugees in Anaiyur and Tiruvathavur where 6,266 members were staying.

The government was providing Rs 1,000 each for six months for pregnant women, subsidised rice at 57 ps a kg, free notebooks and cycles for students.

Agencies