The present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 as a PIL before the Chief Justice Bench of Madras High Court seeking to provide free dry ration from the ration shops for the Non Camp Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees and to include them in the Vaccination drive.

There are 13, 553 Non-Camp Sri Lankan Tamil Refugee families  in Tamil Nadu residing outside the camp and living on their own earnings for more than 3 decades. Unlike other refugees living inside the camp, the Non -Camp Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees are not provided with any sort of relief or monetary assistance. 

The second wave of pandemic and increase of covid spread in Tamil Nadu from May 2021, there has been a complete lockdown in Tamil Nadu declared by the Hon’ble Chief Minister to combat the disease, again their life came to standstill and they lost their jobs. Till date they are struggling to overcome the sufferings of the first wave but now due to the second lockdown they have almost drained their small savings. Also, with no permanent source of income, they are struggling to buy dry rations for their survival, every day is a battle for them and now the add-on effect of the pandemic has made their life extremely vulnerable. Accordingly the petitioner sent a representation on 14.06.2021  for taking necessary steps to extend the Covid relief benefits to non camp Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.

Based on the representation through press release no. 299 dated 19.06.2021 government of Tamil Nadu has extended only the Covid  relief fund of Rs. 4000/- to Non Camp Sri Lankan Tamil refugee families. 

The present writ petition was represented by the Advocates Mr. Arun Kasi & Mr. Pradeep Raja. T before the Hon’ble Madras High Court.

The Hon’ble Chief Justice Bench has directed the State on 26.08.2021 to file a status report for providing free dry ration and vaccination for the 13,553 Non Camp Sri Lankan Tamil Refugee Families.