2025-04-23
News Categories : Committee News
The second Parliamentary Sub-Committee on “Strengthening the legal framework related to the transport sector and steering the transport sector in a positive direction”, established by the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation discussed the need to focus on the transport needs of the community with disabilities.
This sub-committee meeting was held on 10.04.2025 at the Parliament premises, chaired by the Hon. Member of Parliament, Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney-at-Law.
Hon. Member of Parliament Sugath Wasantha de Silva, Chair of the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities and a member of the sub-committee, also participated in the meeting. In addition, a group of representatives, including heads of organizations and institutions representing various segments of the community with disabilities, attended the Committee meeting.
Accordingly, the challenges encountered in fulfilling the transport needs of the community with disabilities and the proposals to address these issues were extensively discussed during the sub-committee meeting.
It was identified that the lack of proper accessibility to transportation modes is a major issue faced by the community with disabilities. Due to the absence of appropriate access facilities for buses and trains, persons with disabilities are often compelled to rely on hired vehicles, which results in them incurring significant expenses, a concern they highlighted to the sub-committee.
The representatives pointed out that although the Gazette Notification issued under the Disabled Persons (Accessibility) Regulations, No. 1 of. 2006 mandates the provision of proper facilities for this community, many institutions and individuals fail to comply with these regulations. They also brought to the attention of the sub-committee the need to ensure the effective implementation of these laws in order to deliver tangible benefits to the community with disabilities.
Representatives from these organizations also indicated to the sub-committee that certain conduct by bus conductors causes serious inconvenience to individuals with disabilities. They emphasized the necessity of not only legislative reforms but also improving attitudes towards persons with disabilities
The need for legislation to allocate seats on buses and trains specifically for personas with disabilities, allowing them to board buses without the need for conductors’ assistance, and ensuring appropriate communication facilities at railway stations for the convenience of the disabled. Additionally, several other issues impacting this community were addressed.
Furthermore, it was pointed out that the issuance of driving licenses to individuals with hearing impairments has been discontinued. The representatives appealed to the sub-committee to intervene and ensure that this facility is reinstated for those individuals.
Accordingly, the Committee Chair stated that the issues and proposals submitted by the community with disabilities should be sent in writing to the sub-committee within two weeks. She further stated that after reviewing these submissions, a final report would be submitted to the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation.
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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