Rehabilitation as nation building: integration of tamil repatriates into indian economy, c.1940s-80s

This paper engages with the problem of the rehabilitation of the repatriates of Sri Lanka in India and the efforts of the Madras Government to settle them. It explores the similarities, continuities, differences and limitations of these rehabilitation projects in relation to other rehabilitation projects of the time in India, and looks at the way repatriates were sought to be absorbed within the Indian economy and society. The paper reveals the care and protection of Indian state towards refugees, repatriates and unwanted people who were coming from other countries and the way they entered into a regular life through the resettlement programmes.