About 150 elderly, single women and persons with disability residing in the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements in Perumbakkam have not been able to access social security schemes after resettlement, a study has found.
The study was conducted by the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) and Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) in eight blocks in the site. There are nearly 18,000 families residing in Perumbakkam.
“These individuals were receiving these benefits prior to relocation but they are unable to receive their monthly pension now, even after attending several camps conducted by TNSCB and submitting all the required documents,” said Vanessa Peters, policy researcher, IRCDUC.
The study found out that out of the total 143 vulnerable individuals, 126 are women and 17 are men. “The assessment reveals that 83% of the vulnerable individuals have not accessed their social security benefits for over a year; 11% have not received it for over two years and 2% have not received their entitlements for over three years.
“Many of those who have not been receiving pensions have visited the Kancheepuram Collectorate and officials told them that their documents are yet to be transferred from Chennai. Now, Perumbakkam falls under the newly created Chengalpattu district and people do not know which Collectorate has their documents,” she said.
The elderly residents also find it hard to travel to Chennai to avail their benefits and lack of transport facilities worsens their condition. “The State government should take steps to provide them the pension at the earliest,” she demanded.
