Resettled families hit by lack of Fair Price Shops: Study

The study by the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities found that given that a fair price shop (FPS) should not have more than 1,000 food cards, there are gross inadequacies in the number of shops in the areas and inconsistency in the availability of commodities. According to the study, there only two FPS functioning with 1,500 cards each in Perumbakkam, which has a population of about 13,000 families, while the remaining 10,000 have been left uncovered by the system.

The Greater Chennai Corporation along with the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board and the Public Works Department began evicting families residing on Cooum banks for the Integrated Cooum River Eco-Restoration Project of the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust from 2016. As on date, 6,310 families from 28 settlements have been resettled in the Perumbakkam and Navalur in Kancheepuram district, AIR site in Chennai district and Gudapakkam in Thiruvallur district.

Of the 6,310 families, 4,699 families were relocated to Perumbakkam, 753 families to Navalur, 709 families to Gudapakkam and 149 to AIR Site. Since, the section of population was engaged in unorganised sector and that the resettlement had affected their income adversely, FPS played a huge role, the study said. Moreover, the families in Perumbakkam and Navalur often complained about discrepancies in the weight of supplied commodities. In Gudapakkam, kerosene is not being provided and the families have to get it from another shop located outside the tenement.

Vanessa Peter, policy researcher, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities, who was part of the study, said that given that the houses were constructed by the state and that the government evicted the people from their homes, the onus is on the State to ensure that all basic amenities are provided to the resettled families. “Multiple departments should have coordinated among themselves to ensure that before constructing houses in the area, the basic amenities, including FPS and the Integrated Child Development Services, should reach the people, especially when they are economically disadvantaged. The government has failed miserably in this aspect and it is an act of negligence,” she added.

Denying the inadequacy in services, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, R Kamaraj, said that the system was in place for meeting all requirements. He added, “If found inadequate, we will definitely step up the services.”