Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday inaugurated over 1,500 newly built houses in 19 Sri Lankan Tamils Rehabilitation Camps spread across 13 districts of the state.

Stalin inaugurated 220 houses at the Melmonavur Camp here and interacted with the beneficiaries of the housing scheme.

In total, 1,591 houses, constructed at a cost of Rs 79.70 crore, were inaugurated by the Chief Minister.

He declared open through video conference new houses in 12 other districts, which includes Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Virudhunagar and Sivaganga. He also spoke to beneficiaries in other districts through a video link.

When Stalin spoke to them, beneficiaries expressed satisfaction on the availability of basic amentities. Anganwadi, library, Public Distribution System outlet are also available, they said.

Ministers including Duraimurugan (Water Resources) and I Periyasamy (Rural Development), elected representatives and senior officials were present.

Chief Minister Stalin had in 2021 renamed the Refugee Camps for Sri Lankan Tamils as Rehabilitation Camps.

Stalin had also announced that 7,469 houses in a dilapidated condition would be constructed afresh.

Out of them, in the first phase, 3,510 houses would be built, he had said. An allocation of Rs 176.02 crore had been made (2021-22) by the government.

Work to construct 3,510 new houses in 35 Rehabilitation Camps for Sri Lankan Tamils spread across 20 districts is on.

Following completion of construction work, 1,591 houses were inaugurated on Sunday.

As many as 58,272 people belonging to 19,498 families have been housed in 104 camps in 29 disctricts.

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