2024-05-17
News Categories : Committee News
The second session of the program series organize by the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities to discuss the challenges, issues, opportunities faced by persons with disabilities and the measures and proposals that can be taken to properly address them was held recently (May 13) at the Kilinochchi District Secretariat.
The programme was presided over by the Chair of the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities, Member of Parliament Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma, and the co-chair of the caucus, Member of Parliament Hon. Madhura Withanage, Acting District Secretary of Kilinochchi District, Mr. S. Muralidaran, Secretary to the Ministry of Social Services of Northern Province, Mr. M. Wagish, Divisional Secretaries of Kandavalai, Karachi , Pachchileipalli, Punakari areas, Consultant of National Democratic Institute (NDI) Mrs. Shyama Salgadu, President of United Front of People with Disabilities Ms. Rasanjali Pathirage were present.
Persons with disabilities living in Kilinochchi district, representatives of organizations representing the disabled community in Kilinochchi district, officials of several educational institutions that provide education for children with disabilities in Kilinochchi district, and a group of liaison officers of public representatives of the area also participated in this event.
The necessary information and proposals were gathered to establish a coordination mechanism for improving the inclusion of people with disabilities into the country's governance structure and society.
The disabled people and organizations who participated in the discussion presented their issues, views and suggestions .
Addressing the meeting, the chair of the caucus, Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma, requested that a steering committee for persons with disabilities be established in relation to each District Coordination and Regional Coordination Committee in the Northern Province and that a special space be reserved on the agenda to discuss the issues of the disabled community in each coordination committee. The chair also pointed out the value of implementing the same process in every district of the island.
The caucus chair pointed out that every district of Sri Lanka has at least one school that receives government support for children with special needs, but there is only one school for all the five districts of the Northern Province. Ranjith Chandrasekhara, a Sri Lankan philanthropist living in the UK, has expressed his desire to build the school if land is given in Kilinochchi district, so he requested the District Secretary and the Social Services Secretary to allocate land for it. Also, the chair emphasized that the attention of the Hon. President will be drawn to restart the Kilinochchi Vocational Training Center, which is currently inoperative.
According to the 2012 census in Sri Lanka, 8.2% of the total population, nearly 1.7 million people, have been identified as persons with disabilities, the chair said. The chairman also emphasized the issue of the lack of a correct data system that includes information regarding persons with disabilities throughout the island.
Meanwhile, the disabled community expressed issues regarding the existing weaknesses in public transport facilities. Accordingly, arrangements have been made to import buses to be added to the Sri Lankan transport system and the necessary measures will be taken to deploy a number of the buses to facilitate the transportation of the disabled, the caucus co-chair, Member of Parliament Hon. Madhura Withanage said.
2025-11-22
The document pertaining to the proposed draft Bill of the Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority, which is scheduled to be presented to Parliament upon Cabinet approval in the future, was extensively discussed at the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Economic Development and International Relations, Members of the Sub Committee under the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment established to identify future steps to resolve the microfinance debt issue, and the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus. This discussion took place on the Nov. 20th, when the Committees met in Parliament under the chairmanship of Hon. Members of Parliament Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law and Samanmalee Gunasinghe. A group of officials from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Legal Department of the Treasury were also in attendance. Presenting their views, the officials stated that the initial draft related to this proposed Bill was published in January 2024. They further noted that petitions had been filed before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka regarding the said draft, and that the new draft has been prepared including the amendments ordered to be incorporated by the Supreme Court, the Committee Stage amendments submitted by the Ministry of Finance to the Supreme Court, as well as other policy-related amendments, and the Gazette has now been prepared accordingly. It was stated further that the Bill is expected to be presented to the Tenth Parliament. Accordingly, the officials stated that the objective of the Bill is to establish the Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority of Sri Lanka, to regulate the business of money lending and microfinance business, to provide protection to customers of such services, and to repeal the Microfinance Act No. 6 of 2016. The composition of the Board of Directors of this Regulatory Authority was also discussed during the meeting. Hon. Member of Parliament Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law pointed out that the absence of a member representing the customers of the microfinance business within the Board composition was concerning. It was also highlighted by the Hon. Members that women have been disproportionately affected due to the lack of regulation in the microfinance sector, and therefore the importance of having a Board member representing women was emphasized. Accordingly, the view of the Hon. Members was that a representative from the National Commission on Women, or the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, or the Secretary to the line Ministry should be appointed as a member of the Board of Directors. Meanwhile, various other matters contained in the draft Bill were also discussed at length. It was stressed that the purpose of the Bill should be to prevent the social crisis and harm that have arisen at ground level due to the operation of microfinance lending activities without any form of regulation. Accordingly, the Committee instructed the officials to incorporate the necessary amendments into the Bill that is to be introduced in the future. The officials stated that such amendments may be introduced at the Committee Stage of the Bill. Members of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Economic Development and International Relations, members of the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Members of the Sub Committee under the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment established to identify future steps to resolve the microfinance debt issue, and several officials participated in this meeting.
2025-11-22
Approval of the Committee was granted for eight reports that must be approved by CoPF under the Ministry of Finance Act The overall financial performance up to September 2025 of the major revenue-generating institutions under the Ministry of Finance was reviewed at the meeting of the Committee on Public Finance. This review took place on the Nov. 20th, when the Committee on Public Finance, chaired by Hon. Member of Parliament Harsha de Silva, met in Parliament. Accordingly, officials representing the Inland Revenue Department, the Sri Lanka Excise Department, and the Sri Lanka Customs presented the progress of their respective institutions for review. Officials representing the Public Debt Management Office also provided clarifications regarding the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy for the period 2026 - 2030 and the borrowing plan for 2026. Furthermore, officials representing the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka explained the progress of the institution. During this discussion, foreign direct investment was reviewed, and officials pointed out that from January to September 2025, USD 827 million in foreign direct investment had been received. Accordingly, the Committee observed that the Board of Investment and other institutions should take effective measures to ensure that foreign investment continues to grow steadily over the coming years. Furthermore, approval was granted for eight reports that must be approved by the Committee on Public Finance, prepared in accordance with the provisions of the State Finance Management Act No. 44 of 2024. Hon. Deputy Ministers Chathuranga Abeysinghe and Nishantha Jayaweera, as well as Hon. Members of Parliament Ravi Karunanayake and Chithral Fernando, Attorney at Law, together with several others, attended this meeting.
2025-11-21
Hon. Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Saroja Savithri Paulraj stated that creating a society with an elevated mindset capable of serving humanity as human beings is the objective of the politics of the government. The Hon.Minister made these remarks during a meeting with representatives of the Eastern Social Development Foundation. She made these remarks on the occasion of the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus in Parliament held in Parliament recently, (Nov. 17) to discuss improving the political inclusion of women’s groups who do not have representation in local politics. Attention of the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus was also drawn to further expanding the possibility of obtaining nominations in a manner that represents special population groups living in the country. Furthermore, activities and the future work plan to be carried out under the leadership of the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus to support the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) from November 25 to December 10 were also discussed with representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Members of the Caucus Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemali Weerasekara, Samanmali Gunasingha, Krishnan Kalaichelvi, A.M.M.M. Rathwaththe, Hiruni Wijesinghe, Attorney at Law, Hasara Liyanage, Attorney at Law, Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law, Geetha Herath, Attorney at Law, and Thushari Jayasingha, Attorney at Law were present at this meeting held.
2025-11-20
The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Agriculture and Resource Sustainability has drawn attention to the importance of accurately surveying and swiftly completing the mapping of all land in Sri Lanka. This matter was discussed when the Committee met on the Nov. 17th in Parliament, under the chairmanship of Hon. Member of Parliament Hector Appuhamy, to review the annual reports and annual performance reports of several State corporations, departments, commissions, and boards for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023. During the meeting, officials from the Survey Department informed the Committee that, as estimated, Sri Lanka has approximately 16.5 million land parcels, of which only about 2.5 million have been surveyed and mapped. Emphasizing the importance of completing the surveying and mapping of the remaining land parcels as soon as possible, the Committee Chairman stated that all relevant parties would be summoned before the Committee to discuss the necessary actions and the future work plan. The Committee also reviewed the annual reports of the Land Reform Commission for the years 2022 and 2023. In addition, the Committee held extensive discussions regarding the revenue loss caused by the Land Reform Commission granting land without entering into legally valid agreements. The Committee Chairman emphasized the importance of issuing land under proper lease agreements in the future and instructed officials to formulate a mechanism to recover the outstanding lease payments and present a comprehensive report on all arrears to the Committee. The meeting was attended by Hon. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, and Committee Members Hon. MPs Gnanamuttu Srineshan, Susanta Kumara Navaratna, Sudath Balagalla, and Attorney-at-Law Bhagya Sri Herath.
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