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Chief Minister Karunanidhi reassured on Govt's
commitment:
Record progress in Northern resettlement
The Government has so far resettled a total of 81,301
Internally Displaced Persons and the resettlement of the remaining
186,000 will be undertaken swiftly once de-mining is complete, Socio
Economic Development and Youth Empowerment Minister Arumugam Thondaman
has reassured Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi during his current visit to
Tamil Nadu.
Minister Thondaman has pointed out that around 58,000
people have been resettled after the visit of the delegation of MPs from
Tamil Nadu and in the second phase it will be about 46,000 people. The
Minister, who urged India and Tamil Nadu to further assist the process
of rehabilitation and resettlement, told The Hindu that Karunanidhi was
reassured about the progress of resettlement.
The Sri Lankan Government was fully committed to
rehabilitating and resettling all the people in the welfare villages, he
added.
"When I explained to him about the progress, he was
reassured. We sought some help so that we could speed up the whole
thing," he said, adding that if any social organizations were interested
in helping, they were welcome to do so. "President Mahinda Rajapaksa is
keen," he said. Thondaman rejected allegations that the Government was
not genuinely interested in resettling the Tamils, saying some people
were trying to get political mileage by raising such allegations.
"The genuineness of the Government is exemplified by
the progress. There are shortcomings. We don't say that we are 100 per
cent perfect." Minister Thondaman said he was looking forward to help
from the Indian Government in education and housing.
The Minister pointed out that de-mining was still
going on in countries such as Croatia, and that Sri Lanka had fared far
better in this regard. "The Government has taken it as a duty."
The Minister said besides rations for six months under
the World Food Programme, the Government was giving seeds for
cultivation and granting a subsidy for fertilizer. "The Government has
provided the infrastructure and now their priority has turned towards
IDP camps. So we need India's help," he said. The Minister said the
Government could not fix a timeframe for resettlement as it depended on
providing housing and completing de-mining operations. "As soon as
de-mining is complete, we will be able to resettle all the people.
Another team is going to come to help us with de-mining, thanks to the
Indian Government.
Courtesy: Sunday Observer |
