The eviction and resettlement of around 200 families residing along the banks of Adyar this month has adversely affected the education of schoolgoing children in these families, a report compiled by the non-governmental organisation Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) showed.
Majority of these families were resettled to Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board’s tenements in Perumbakkam, which is located more than 20 kilometre away from their present location. The report documented the case of two children in particular, who were struggling to get admission in schools in and around the resettlement site.
One of them was studying Class XI in a girls school run by Greater Chennai Corporation in Ashok Nagar. She had secured 415 marks in Class X. She was denied admission in three schools in Perumbakkam, Sholinganallur and Semmencheri. According to the report, another boy was studying Class XII in Business Mathematics group in a school near Choolaipallam from where his family was evicted. However, the particular group was not available in any government-run schools in and around Perumbakkam, the report observed.
The report pointed out the government-run schools in Perumbakkam were already struggling to cater to the needs of the children there. More than 27,000 resettled families live in TNUHDB tenements in Perumbakkam and nearby Semmencheri.
Vanessa Peter, founder, IRCDUC, questioned the need for carrying out such evictions during the middle of the academic year. She contended social impact assessments were not conducted ahead of the evictions. Pointing to an observation made by the Madras High Court in its recent order on a public interest litigation petition regarding such resettlements, she said the court had clearly mentioned the children being resettled should be provided access to education in the schools run either by the government or even private institutions.
Highlighting the lack of in-situ development or resettlement to proximate locations, she pointed to the inordinate delay in finalising the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy, the draft of which was released two years ago.
