Chennai, Dec 18 (KNN) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday begun distribution of 6,000 cyclone flood relief at a PDS shop in Velachery’s Sakthi Vijayalakshmi Nagar.

The money will be distributed to the people through PDS shops and aid camps that will be held across the city and in the three neighbouring districts.

Last week, he requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to provide a moratorium on loan repayment for small businesses, particularly to those people who were affected by the Cyclone 'Michaung' that hit the state earlier this month.

CM urged the central government to direct all commercial banks, cooperative banks, all financial institutions and non-banking financial companies to issue a moratorium for a period of three months -- December to February -- on payment of all instalments linked to agricultural term loans, retail and crop loans.

He said 37 lakh families across Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, and Thiruvallur districts have borne the brunt of severe rains that lashed the state before the cyclone made its landfall in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

"Although we have been able to restore normalcy in their daily lives, the impact on their livelihood still lingers for many. Small businessmen, traders and MSME units impacted by the floods are yet to return to their regular economic activities. Many of these families and business entities have availed loans for various purposes and would be finding it impossible to repay their dues," read CM Stalin's letter to the Union Finance Minister.

(KNN Bureau)