R. ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, SEPT 19
Central Chennai Lok Sabha MP Dayanidhi Maran appealed to the ruling AIADMK government to stop evicting peacefully living families of journalists, government employees, including differently-abled, and employees of Madras High Court at Government Servants’ Rental Quarters of Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) at Peters Colony at Royapettah in Chennai.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, Maran appealed to the government not to initiate the eviction process during the corona pandemic, as wards of these families cannot switch institutions due to the pandemic. Hence, the families should be allowed to live till the end of this current academic year.
@CMOTamilNadu @OfficeOfOPS #TNChiefSecretary #TNHousingAndUrbanDevelopment
— Dayanidhi Maran தயாநிதி மாறன் (@Dayanidhi_Maran) September 19, 2020
The rented quarters for government employees and journalists were allotted for the purpose of reaching their offices and places of programmes in time during the previous DMK regime.
As many as 320 families are living here, whenever the AIADMK coming to power, they were eying this centrally-located property on commercial view. If the structurally strong buildings have minor repairs, it is for the government and TNHB to maintain it, instead, eviction is the not answer, Dayanidhi Maran pointed out.
Insisting allottees to relocate to damaged and unlivable flats in Lloyds Colony or to an unsold TNHB tenement built near a burial ground in the tail end of North Chennai is not acceptable, as a good number of frontline warriors from the colony wouldn’t be able to reach their hospitals like Royapettah GH, RGGGH and Kings Institute, etc, Maran added.
Keeping these in mind, the government should drop its eviction plan as of now and allow the allottees to live peacefully till the end of the current academic year 2020-2021, the statement said.
Mr. Maran also expressed his desire to raise the issue during the ongoing monsoon session of parliament.
Earlier, a few officials of TNHB started issuing eviction notices to the allottees and it was thwarted by the Residents Welfare Association. The officials returned after the allottees refused to receive notices, which insist the allottees vacate on or before September 30.
