The much-publicised 50,000 houses being built by UPA Government led by Manmohan Singh in northern Sri lanka for the Tamils who lost everything in the civil war are entangled in corruption and favouritism, according to a senior Tamil MP from the island nation. Seenithamby Yoheswaran, representing Batticaloa district in Sri lankan parliament told The Pioneer that the houses being built with funds donated by India for Tamils in Jaffna and the eastern province of the island nation are being distributed among Sinhalese as well as people in the southern regions.
“The UPA Government entrusted the construction and distribution of the houses to Caritas International, a body promoted by the Roman Catholic Church for reaching the unreached (read proselytization). The Caritas has its own likes and dislikes when it comes to distribution of relief materials and rehabilitation,” said Yoheswaran who represents Ilankai Tamil Arachu Katchi, a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance, in Sri lankan parliament.
He said though the European Union too was involved in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of victims of the 2009 civil war he has not come across any allegations of this kind. “No efforts are being taken to ensure the handing over of these houses to the deserving candidates,” he said.
Though it was decided by the UPA Government that it would construct 50,000 houses for the benefit of Tamils in Northern Province, the proposal was diluted by the Sri lankan government by allocating 10,000 houses to the Eastern Province, said Yoheswaran. “But now the Sri lankan government has decided to build 5,000 houses in southern Sri lanka and that too to the Sinhalese, who are not at all affected by the ethnic war,” said the MP.
He pointed out that though the European Union too was active in rehabilitation and resettlement by building houses for those who were affected by the ethnic war, they were transparent and straightforward. “The EU officials are personally monitoring each stage of the resettlement operations. But the same cannot be said about the Indian officials. They have entrusted the building and distribution operations with the Caritas International . The Red Cross too is active in the region,” he said. The Tamil MP said though the Ramakrishna Mission too was active in the regions, they do not have the authority to identify the deserving sections.