Chennai, October 18
The Indian government is ready to provide another Rs 500 crore to the Sri Lankan government for rehabilitation of Tamil refugees who were displaced due to the civil war in the island nation, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said.
His announcement came after he met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and discussed the report submitted by 10 MPs of the ruling alliance who had visited the camps for internally displaced people. Over 250,000 Tamil refugees have been kept there for the past five months following the end of the war.
Chidambaram said India had already announced financial assistance of Rs 500 crore for the rehabilitation of the displaced people in Sri Lanka.
“We are ready to sanction a similar amount if needed," he told reporters here. He stated the cabinet would take up
the suggestions made by the DMK government. The process of sending the people back to their native places had
begun, he said, adding about 5,000 Tamils had been sent back after the trip of the Indian MPs.
The Minister also made it clear the Sri Lankan government will have to come out with proposals for relief work before India releases the Rs 500 assistance.
The report submitted by the delegation of Congress-DMK alliance MPs had said the conditions in Menik farm, where over 238,000 Tamils had been living for the last five months, were “pathetic”. It said most of the displaced people were facing a severe shortage of water and milk for babies, adding sanitary facilities were lacking.
According to the report, the most important demand of the displaced people was that they should be sent back to their native places. The MPs said the demand had been conveyed to Sri Lankan President Rajapakse, who had promised to settle 58,000 refugees within next 15 days.
