_{File photo:Vino Noharathalingam}

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Vino Noharathalingam signed a letter on Wednesday (June 16th), urging Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to provide relief assistance to COVID-19 affected families in the North East.

The letter described the “plight of the poor below the poverty line” in the North-East as “deplorable.”

Families across the North-East have been rendered jobless due to the unending travel ban and have been pushed to the point of starvation and mental exhaustion. However the infection and mortality rates have not decreased and the deprivation of work has caused major economic and mental distress. Many families across the Tamil homeland have suffered due to the travel ban and there have been a few incidents of people commiting suicide due to the lack of assistance and brutal travel ban restriction imposed. 

Noharathalingam proposed that the financial allocation for his Vanni district in the decentralised budget be reallocated and used to aid those in the district that are suffering in a state of poverty. 

He added that the 5000 rupees of financial aid is limited to samurdhi beneficiaries only rendering many ineligible to receive any financial aid. He further added that 5000 rupees could not be considered an adequate relief scheme to compensate for more than five days of goods. 

“I believe this is urgent and necessary and acceptable to all.”

Read the full letter here.