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.
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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