'Create separate department for poverty alleviation in local bodies'

CHENNAI: Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) has urged Udhayanidhi Stalin, state minister for Youth Welfare, Sports Development, Special Programme Implementation Department and Poverty Alleviation departments to create poverty alleviation departments in all the urban local bodies in the state.

In a letter to the newly appointed minister, Venessa Peter of IRCDUC said that the urban local bodies in the state are implementing several special schemes for the urban deprived communities like the Shelter for Urban Homeless Scheme (SUH) and Support to Urban Street Vendors (SUSV), National Livelihood Mission (NULM) and Tamil Nadu Urban Employment Scheme.

"Currently, these existing schemes are functioning in different departments within the urban local bodies. While the shelter programme is being implemented by the Department of Public Health, the scheme for street vendors is being implemented by the revenue department of the local bodies. These schemes are functioning in isolation and there is a need for ensuring the convergence of these schemes to improve the livelihood and social security of the deprived communities in the urban areas, " she said.

She urged the minister to evolve a Tamil Nadu State Urban Poverty Alleviation Programme and create special departments for Urban Poverty Alleviation Programmes to provide special attention to the programmes.

The letter also pointed out that the operational guidelines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has identified persons with disabilities, primitive tribal groups, nomadic tribal groups, denotified tribes, women in special circumstances, HIV positive persons and, internally displaced persons as vulnerable categories.

She urged Udhayanidhi Stalin to include homeless persons in urban areas in the list of vulnerable categories.