India has launched the third phase of a housing project in Sri Lanka by expanding the category of beneficiaries to include Indian-origin Tamils who are settled in the central part of the country as plantation laborers.
India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y.K.Sinha told All India Radio in an interview that the second phase was completed with successful construction of 10,000 houses in the north and eastern parts of the country for internally displaced people who were affected by the civil war.
He said that in the third phase, about 16000 houses will be built, and added that the main beneficiaries would be Tamil plantation workers.
Sinha said that during the second phase, a total of 43,000 houses are being built, and added that in 2014, the third phase of construction would be activated.
Sinha said the beneficiaries have been selected on basis of clearly laid down criteria in consultation with the Sri Lankan Government.