Each house, which covers 291 sq.ft., has a living room, bedroom, attached washroom and a kitchen, with free water connection and power supply.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will virtually inaugurate 88 free houses that were built for Sri Lankan Tamils, who have been living in rehabilitation camps at Minnur village near Ambur town in Tirupattur, at the end of January.
Officials of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), which executed the project, said that Sri Lankan Tamils have been living in dilapidated single-room houses with bare minimum facilities since camps were set up in the early 1990s. “In Tirupattur district, Sri Lankan Tamils were living in camps at Minnur and Chinnapallikuppam near Ambur. The new houses will be given to those living in Chinnapallikuppam by next week (January),” S. Poongodi, Tasildar for Sri Lankan Tamils (Tirupattur), told The Hindu.
The action comes in the wake of 18 new houses that were allocated to Sri Lankan Tamils living in Chinnapallikuppam, which were occupied by unknown persons on January 21. Following the incident, a complaint has been registered with the Ambur Taluk police, which is investigating it. “The new houses were built several weeks ago, but were kept locked. The district administration should handover the new houses to beneficiaries without further delay,” said S. Raja, a resident.
Along with DRDA officials, K. Collector Sivasoundaravalli will inspect the new houses in the village in the coming days. Divided into two phases, DRDA officials said that the multi-crore work has provided free houses for 160 beneficiaries in 2023 under phase-1 of the project. The new houses will be given to the remaining 88 beneficiaries by the end of January. The delay in handing over new houses is mainly due to the availability of dates of dignitaries to the event, officials said.
As per norms, each house, on an average, costs ₹8.10 lakh for the State exchequer. Each house, which covers 291 sq.ft., has a living room, bedroom, attached washroom and a kitchen. The new house comprises a free water connection and power supply.
The camp with new houses also has a community centre, a common centre for children and a fair price shop. The approach roads to the camp area from the main road will also be re-laid.
The new housing quarters also have overhead tanks, a public library and a workshop for free vocational training to beneficiaries. The initiative was launched by the Chief Minister at a function in Vellore in November 2021.
Tiruvannamalai has the highest number of 11 camps with 3,196 persons. Vellore, Tirupattur and Ranipet have two camps each. A total of 2,239 families reside in these districts since 1990.
Published – January 26, 2026 12:37 am IST
