Sri Lankan cabinet has approved a proposal to allocate 88 million rupees (592,906 U.S. dollars) to purchase more lands in the former war-torn north, to settle hundreds of families displaced by the island's 30-year civil conflict.

Cabinet Spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne told journalists that steps have been taken to resettle 462 families in the north and as there are less state lands in Jaffna it has been proposed to purchase private lands of 20 perches for each family.

He said that 971 families still lived in welfare centers in the Jaffna District and 682 families of them did not own any lands, Xinhua reported.

Thousands of people were displaced by years of civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels which ended in May 2009. Sri Lankan government has vowed to settle the IDPs as early as possible.