Poverty Afflicts over Half the People, One-Third live in Rented Houses

Survey of Muslim Households in TN

Chennai: A house-to-house survey of 164,415 Muslim families in Tamil Nadu has found high incidence of poverty, need for career guidance for students and healthcare for the sick and assistance for the disabled.
The survey was carried out by the United Welfare Organization (UNWO) in 10 of the 32 districts in the State i.e., Ramnad, Trichy, Tirunelveli, Dindigul, Karur, Thiruvarur, Pudukottai, Erode, Madurai and Cuddalore.
The survey highlights available through Chennai-based OMEIAT Journal, indicate that over 53% families are in the low-income category, 7.32% are economically well-off (i.e., income being more that expenditure) and around 39% families have incomes equivalent to expenditure. It says, exactly one-third of the families surveyed live in rented accommodations. The survey puts the number of students who require career guidance and counseling and scholarship number around 4,900. A little over 10,300 sick individuals were such that they cannot afford medical treatment. There were 1,402 handicapped persons among the surveyed people. There were 302 divorced women while 1,077 women reported that they were deserted by their husbands. It put the number of destitute (who went without food, clothing and shelter and virtually without any family support) were 1,160.
The journal did not reveal when the survey was conducted. For more details Contact: United Welfare Organistion, 10/39, First Floor, Anaikar Complex, M. V. Badran Street, Periamet, Chennai-600003, Ph: 044-4204-1130