CHENNAI: Most families from informal settlements resettled to Perumbakkam here under the Integrated Cooum River Eco-Restoration Plan (ICRERP), receive their ‘monthly’ subsistence allowance, meant to cushion the impact of loss of livelihood in most cases, only once in six months, says a report by Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC).
The report, released on Sunday ahead of World Human Rights Day on Monday, found that 85 per cent of the families surveyed received the monthly subsistence allowance of Rs 2,500 only once in six months.
Moreover, 25.9 per cent of the families have not received the allowance at all — a year after being resettled. Only one per cent of families received the allowance for all 12 months, the report said.
The report, aimed to assess the accessibility to Resettlement and Rehabilitation Package (R&R), surveyed a total of 228 families- 10 per cent of the total number of the families shifted to Perumbakkam under ICRERP between September 2017 to December 2017.
The families were identified for the survey using random sampling methods. Meanwhile, the shifting allowance of Rs 5,000 per family has been received by 97.8 per cent of the families.
However, the report said, “ The Government Order 9 (Dated 13 January 2013) points out that `5,000 is provided as shifting charges per person, in reality `5,000 is provided per family.”
The report noted that members of the resettled community had also raised several other issues.
“Despite the fact that over 75 per cent of the communities already had bank accounts, Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) insisted that new accounts should be opened only in Mambalam branch of a particular bank. It is to be noted that the bank in which the accounts are opened also has a branch in the vicinity of the relocation settlement, yet it is insisted that they open accounts only in Mambalam branch,” the report said.
This forces them to travel 25.4 km to reach the specific branch and receive their allowances and even to check if the amount has been credited to their accounts.
Moreover, there is no uniformity in the process of opening bank accounts. While some families received cash cards for the allowances, some received only passbooks and some, only chequebooks. The inconsistencies are despite a Project Management Unit set up in TNSCB for the project, the report said.