State’s report to NHRC on resettlement draws activists ire

C Shivakumar



Chennai:



The state government’s report to National Human Rights Commission has drawn the ire of rights activists who claim the state has failed to address the vital issues of resettlement and rehabilitation of slum dwellers in Kannagi Nagar and Semencherry besides failing to provide adequate data on basic issues of food security and health related entitlements.







This comes in the wake of the state submitting the report to NHRC on September 5, 2011 after repeated reminders from NHRC following a complaint filed by M Perumal of Citizens Rights Forum on February 3, 2010.







Perumal in his complaint has alleged forced eviction during mid-academic year and during monsoon besides absence of basic amenties including public distribution system, primary health centre, Integrated Child Develeopment Schemes besides death of children, high dropout rate, lack of employment opportunities and unsafe habitation for women and children.







Interestingly, the state has failed to provide adequate responses on the basic amenties.



“One of the complaint was 15 ICDS in place of 150 ICDS centres, they have not even mentioned if any ICDS are there or how many are functioning in Kannagi Nagar. In Semenchery they have provided some numbers but in Kanagi Nagar they failed to provide any details,” says Vanessa of Citizen Rights Forum (CRF).







Surprisingly, the report filed by the state hails the rehabilitation and resettlement scheme by previous regimes and states that the resettled slum people were having better housing facility with better living conditions when compared to their earlier households.







“How could the government sing a different tune when they have been pitching vigorously in the elections against the rehabilitation and resettlement scheme,” wonders Balasundar, another CRF activist.







Supreme Court appointed Food Security Advisor of Tamil Nadu V Suresh told Express that Semenchery and Kannagi Nagar slum resettlement is a big example of mass disaster and betrayal of poor on the part of policy makers and government.







“Resettling all the urban poor 20 km away from the city in tenement resembling chicken coop in condition of living worse than animals is hardly doing the duty to the constitutional vision of preserving the dignity of people,” Suresh said.







But the state claims in its report that there is no vacant land available within the city limits in rehabilitation and resettlement scheme. “The schemes of Kannagi nagar and Semenchery are almost nearer to the corporation limits and on the prestigious Old Mahabalipuram Road and this area will soon be included in the corporation limits. And hence it is not a violation of human rights,” the report said.











“The tragedy is that the misery of Semenchery and Kannagi Nagar is being touted by Tamil Nadu government and with support of World Bank and Planning commission as the perfect solution for getting rid of poor in urban India who are described as eyesores and a disgrace for a developed economic powerhouse with nine per cent GDP,” Suresh added.





The state is blind to issues like children dying because of no hospital facilities, children dropping out of schools and various other issues and are they not human rights issues, wonders Vanessa.