2020-12-07
News Categories : Committee News
Hon. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said today (07) that the new project 'Wada Samaga Yali Gamata', which identifies the real needs and priorities of the country's rural people will be launched on the 14th December 2020.
The Prime Minister, while presiding the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Finance, emphasized that the political authorities should identify the real needs of the people in the rural and semi-urban areas and launch the project.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said so in response to a proposal made by MP Prof. Ranjith Bandara,that priority should be given to the vital priorities of the people and not to bureaucracy to bring about a positive change in the living standards of 72% of Sri Lankans, both rural and semi-urban.
Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Treasury Mr. S. R. Attygalle said that there should be good coordination among government institutions regarding the relevant places. Accordingly, the Secretary to the Ministry agreed to prepare a list of priorities with the assistance of State Ministers Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Shehan Semasinghe.
Meanwhile, Minister Gamini Lokuge said that the Ministry of Finance should provide assistance as soon as possible as the tourism industry in the country is facing difficulties due to the current COVID pandemic situation. The Secretary to the Ministry explained to the committee a number of steps taken by the Ministry of Finance in this regard.
Member of Parliament Jagath Kumara, pointed out the problematic situation regarding the pension anomalies and the issuance of nomination to Samurdhi officers for elections. Responding to this, Minister Shehan Semasinghe said that a cabinet paper will be submitted in collaboration with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Agriculture regarding the issuance of nomination to Samurdhi officers for the election and that the issue will be resolved soon.
Responding to a question raised by MP Jagath Kumara regarding pension anomalies, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle said that the government spends Rs. 1.1 trillion on salaries and pensions alone. According to the budget proposal, 50,000 new graduates will be recruited to the public service and 100,000 youths for the salary of Rs. 35,000 from low-income families are also being recruited and their salaries should be added to this.
Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that this was a difficult time for any government to manage its finances. Furthermore, he informed the committee that his two State Ministers and officials of the Ministry of Finance are performing well.
State Minister of Samurdhi, Household Economy, Micro Finance, Self-Employment, Business Development Shehan Semasinghe , State Minister of Money & Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Minister Gamini Lokuge, Members of Parliament Jagath Kumara, Prof. Ranjith Bandara, Gunapala Ratnasekera, S. Viyalendran, Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, W.D Weerasinghe and Mohomed Muzammil were also present.
In addition, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Treasury S.R Attygalle and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance were also present at the occasion.
2026-06-19
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Environment focused its attention on the issue of water pollution in the Kelani River when it met in Parliament recently (10th June) under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi.During the meeting, the Committee was briefed on the progress of discussions being held with companies that have expressed willingness to invest in a project aimed at cleaning the waters of the Kelani River.The Committee also discussed a number of proposals and other issues raised by Hon. Members of Parliament.The meeting was attended by Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
2026-06-18
A meeting of the Women Parliamentarians Caucus was held in Parliament recently to discuss the importance of incorporating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s national budget formulation process and to examine the challenges associated with its implementation.The meeting was chaired by the Chairperson of the Caucus and Hon. Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Saroja Savithri Paulraj. Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya also participated in the discussion.A key concern raised during the discussion was the lack of adequate data and indicators to accurately assess and measure women’s economic contributions within the budgetary process. Drawing on examples of approaches adopted in India and other countries, members of the Caucus underscored the need to identify and address existing systemic and technical gaps in Sri Lanka’s budgeting framework.The Caucus also emphasized the importance of disaggregating data by gender in project reporting and strengthening digital data management systems to support such efforts. It was further noted that identifying relevant gender-related considerations at the initial stages of project design and implementation at the ministerial level would facilitate more effective project analysis, monitoring, and evaluation of outcomes.The need to move away from existing traditional and time-consuming methods towards formal online systems and data-driven analytical tools was also emphasized.The current progress and challenges in integrating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s public financial policy were discussed in detail during the meeting.It was also emphasized that such budgeting should not be limited to nominal percentages in documents, but that the need to establish a formal framework and data system to ensure it has a real and practical impact was also highlighted.The Hon.Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemalee Weerasekera, Hon. Deputy Minister Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne, Co-Vice Chairpersons of the Caucus, Hon. Members of Parliament Chamindrani Kiriella, Attorney at Law and Samanmalee Gunasinghe, Hon. Members of Parliament Thushari Jayasinghe, Attorney at Law, Krishnan Kaleichelvi, Sagarika Athauda ,Attorney at Law, Nilanthi Kottahachchi, Attorney at Law, Ambika Samivel and Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law, along with a group of officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, also participated in the event.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government met recently (Jun. 12) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a range of issues and proposals relating to their respective electorates, as well as several other matters of public importance.Hon. Members of Parliament and officials were present at the meeting.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs met recently (Jun. 09) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a number of proposals and issues, including reviewing the progress of discussions initiated with the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education and the Department of Examinations regarding the formulation of regulations to prevent the conduct of private tuition classes on Sunday mornings, thereby facilitating the holding of Dhamma School classes on Sundays.The meeting was attended by Hon. Deputy Ministers, Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
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