Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the government is currently working to initiate new projects across every area of Sri Lanka and to bring the necessary investments to rural areas in order to improve the participation of the communities in strengthening the national economy.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a public gathering held today (12th) in Nanattan, Mannar.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated:

“Our country has reached a decisive point. The government of National People’s Power (NPP) stands at understanding the expectations of the people. The general public came together despite the ethnic and religious barriers to exercise their voting right against the corruption in the politics that existed in this country. Consequently, Anura Kumara Dissanayake was able to become the President in 2024. A month later, we formed a Parliament that will initiate in changing the history. Today, we have a government made up of 159 members. There is now a strong group in Parliament standing against the corruption and a government that represents all ethnicities, religions, and regions. For the first time in history, we have formed a government made by a single party that represents everyone. The people are the ones who made this victory possible and they are the true victors in this cause.

We are committed to protecting the trust the people have placed in us and to fulfilling their expectations.

You are well aware of how weak the economy was when we came to power. Officially, we had been declared a bankrupt nation before the world. For many years, Sri Lanka had no economic growth and was in a debt-ridden economy. Tourism sector had been collapsed. Due to the corruption in political authority, investors were unwilling to invest the country. Today, we have changed all that. We have officially succeeded in removing the label of ’bankrupted’. We have managed to steer the economy towards growth leading the investments are being restored and the confidence in Sri Lanka has increased internationally.

We are working to start new projects in every area of Sri Lanka to bring the necessary investments to the rural sector, with the aim of improving the participation of rural communities in the national economy.

The first budget of the NPP government has passed. Even though the economy is not yet strong, we focused on two main priorities in the budget: one was to develop infrastructure necessary for economic growth, and the other was to provide relief to people burdened by economic hardships. That’s why we have increased and extended the period of Aswesuma benefits. Further, for schools with lower than 300 students, vouchers to buy schoolbooks was distributed along with the government’s intervention to strengthening the social protection system.

Previous governments were a burden to the people. But today, we have a very small Cabinet of members. The government is no longer a burden to people. We have reduced expenses, minimized losses, and eliminated the corruption.

Because of a government that is not a burden to the people, it was able to provide relief to the people. Through this budget, the basic salaries of public service have been increased. Now, the public service has become a much better place to earn a good income. They have been given the opportunity to work freely. Decisions for the people are now statistical data and not based on political preferences. What we expect is an independent public service. We are in need of a people-centered government as well as a public service and it should be an efficient, corruption-free, people-sensitive public service. We have already created the necessary environment for that.

In order to develop the rural economy, the government has allocated a large amount of funding through this year’s budget but for that allocations are to be used properly for the purpose of serving people, the local government institutions are need to be cleaned up. If the leaders who represents the villages are corrupted, the allocation of fundings will become worthless. That is why the upcoming local government elections has become extremely significant and decisive.”

The event was attended by the Members of Parliament Jegadeeswaran and S .Thilakanadan, public representatives, and candidates of local government election representing the NPP.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

The Government and the Public Services should commit in discharging the duties for the General Public

The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the people of Sri Lanka should no longer be burdened by conflict and the Government remains committed to ensuring peace and stability across the country, with the government and the public service must discharge their duties to meet the needs of the people.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing public gatherings held in Velanai, Nallur, and Vadamarachchi.

The Prime Minister further reiterated:

There are numerous issues regarding infrastructure development in the Northern Province ranging from roads, drinking water supply, agriculture, and unemployment, to education and health sectors.

Many of these development tasks fall under the responsibility of local governments and provincial councils that represents your areas. However, these responsibilities have not been properly discharged.

While it is said that the issues raised in the North and East were caused by the war, it has been 16 years since the end of the war. What real change has taken place? Have the lives of the people in these areas has improved?

Although the central government allocates funds to provincial governing bodies, there should be a transparent mechanism in place to ensure that these funds are properly utilized for the relevant projects.

On May 6th, you will hold the decisive right to elect the local government closest to you that will work to uplift your lives and develop your communities. Elect representatives who are committed to serving the people, and free of fraud and corruption.

The government is actively participating in lifting the country from its fallen state and to overcome the current economic challenges. We accept that there is a long way to go. The prices of goods are still high but the government is currently working towards a change, and the people will receive the benefits in the near future.

Measures have been taken to increase the basic salary of public servants from this year’s Budget. The public service must commit to discharging duties in dedication to the people. This must be not only a people’s government, but also a public service that belongs to the people.

Even after the independence, this country has seen much bloodshed and conflict. The people have suffered greatly as a result. The government is determined to ensure that such a situation never arises again. Therefore, the government is committed to fostering peace within the country.

The event was attended by Minister of Fisheries Mr. Ramalingam Chandrasekar, along with several Members of Parliament and local representatives in the North.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya emphasized the need to create a clean and transparent local governance system that effectively utilizes budget allocations for the development of the rural sector.

The Prime Minister made these remarks today (11), while addressing a public gathering held in Karainagar, Jaffna.

Elaborating further, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated:

“This country is rich in cultures and traditions and inherits a proud and prosperous history.

I was deeply moved by the information I received about Karainagar. In 1977, around 80,000 people lived in Karainagar. Unfortunately, today it has turned into 10,500. What happened to the rest of the people? I also learned that Karainagar is home to some of the most educated and affluent people in the Northern Province. That is remarkable, but the issue is that in order to become educated and affluent, they were forced to leave Karainagar.

Who speaks up for those who could not leave? They are citizens of this country. They are entitled to have equal rights like everyone else does. As the Minister of Education, I looked into the education system in Karainagar. I discovered that there are only two schools offering GCE Advanced Level education, with only two teachers in total. Further, all students who have passed the Grade 5 scholarship exam leave Karainagar to Jaffna for further education.

Throughout the years, there were changes in governments, presidents, national administrations, members of parliament representing this area, local governments, and provincial councils but what have they done to uplift the education of Karainagar?

Education increases the value and prosperity of people. Education is vital as such. However, for decades, the right to quality education has been denied in this region. In addition, there is a severe water issue in Karainagar. Access to clean drinking water which is a basic necessity, comes at a cost to the people in this area. Various projects launched to provide drinking water have never been completed due to corruption.

Further, roads, transport, and many other services have deteriorated due to corruption at the local level. It has been 16 years since the war ended yet what has changed since then? Why have these issues not yet been resolved? That is why the upcoming local government elections are crucial. Problems at the local level must be addressed by local government institutions.

About a month ago, the first budget of the government has been passed.

A significant allocation has been made from all local government accounts for education, health, public welfare, infrastructure, and public transportation but these funds must be spent wisely.

For that, local governments should be governed by clean and corruption-free environment. Therefore, in this election, we must elect people who are free from corruption and dedicated to the purpose of serving the public. In 2024, the people of this country made a decision to change the political culture. On May 6, they will once again have the opportunity to make a thoughtful decision for the betterment of their villages.”

During the event, Minister of Fisheries Mr. Ramalingam Chandrasekar also shared his views:

“Today, the political morality we expected for has taken root in this country. Unlike the governance of previous governments, the representatives of the current government are not exercising the power to enrich themselves and some even do not hesitate to return their salaries for serving the general public.

Today, the public service receives higher salaries, and the government is taking possible decision for the benefit of the people.”

The event was attended by Members of Parliament Shri Bhavan and Ilayankumar, along with other public representatives and candidates contesting in the local government elections.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

ඓතිහාසික මාවිට්ටපුරම් ශ්‍රී කන්දස්වාමි කෝවිලේ වසර 51කට පසුව පැවැතුවුණු මහා කුම්භාභිශේක මංගල්‍යයට අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය අද (11) පෙරවරුවේ සහභාගී විය.

ස්කන්ධ කුමාර දෙවියන්ගේ පාද ස්පර්ශය ලැබූවා යැයි සැලකෙන මාවිට්ටපුරම් ශ්‍රී කන්දස්වාමි කෝවිල යාපනය ජනතාවගේ අභිමානය විදහාපාන මනරම් සිද්ධස්ථානයකි.

ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික විවිධත්වයෙන් යුත් රටක් ලෙස සමෘද්ධිමත් ඒකීය රටක ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික නිදහස තහවුරු කරමින් කිසිදු පීඩාවකින් තොරව ජනතාවගේ අධ්‍යාත්මික වර්ධනය උදෙසා මෙවන් සුවිශේෂී ස්ථාන රැක ගැනීම අප සැමගේ වගකීමක් බවත්, උතුරේත් දකුණේත් සංස්කෘතික හර පද්ධතීන් එක ලෙස රැකගැනීමේ වගකීම කිසි විටෙක අමතක නොකරන බවත් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය පැවසුවාය.

ඓතිහාසික මාවිට්ටපුරම් ශ්‍රී කන්දස්වාමි කෝවිලේ රාජ රාජ ශ්‍රී රත්න සභාපති කුරුක්කල්තුමා, මහා රාජ රාජ ශ්‍රී ඤාණ ස්කන්ධ කුරුක්කල්තුමා සහ දර්ශන සිවසුම කලානිදි වෛද්‍යසු කුරුක්කල් ඇතුළුව මහා කුම්භාභිශේක මංගල්‍ය වෙනුවෙන් සම්බන්ධ වූ දෙස් විදෙස් කුරුක්කල්තුමන්ලා විසින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමියට මෙහිදී ආශිර්වාද සිදු කළේය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

"The Gampaha Wickramarachchi Institute of Indigenous Medicine has been upgraded to a university without even basic facilities."

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that a standard policy and procedure is followed when appointing principals to all schools.

The Prime Minister made these remarks yesterday (09) in Parliament, responding to a question raised by the opposition regarding an issue that had arisen at Bandaranayake College in Gampaha.

The Prime Minister further stated:

The past Government has turned the process of appointing principals for schools into a problematic matter. Without a proper procedure, acting principals were appointed, leading to prolonged unfairness for both the teachers and the schools leaving the school administration system to a problematic state. Currently a proper procedure is followed in correcting the system according to existing regulations. Principals are being appointed to all national schools and vacancies through interviews conducted in line with qualifications required for the position. We do not treat schools differently, every school is governed under the same policy and procedure. The principal appointment at Bandaranayake College, Gampaha, was also carried out according to this standard procedure.

A number of issues had been identified based on written and verbal complaints made by various parties regarding the Gampaha Wickramarachchi Institute of Indigenous Medicine. Consequently, an expert committee has been appointed to examine the matter in a formal and analytical manner. Discussions were held with both the academic staff and students, and several key issues had been identified through the initial discussions.

Notably, the Gampaha Wickramarachchi Institute of Indigenous Medicine was upgraded to university without even the most basic facilities. New faculties and degree programs have been launched without adequate human resources or infrastructure. Further, beyond the core objectives of indigenous medicine, programs such as technology, social sciences, and management have been introduced without sufficient facilities. The Prime Minister stated that a formal committee has been appointed to investigate these matters and prepare a report to recommend the necessary actions.

Prime Minister’s media Division

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the government is committed to ensuring justice for the victims affected by the injustices related to enforced disappearances.

The Prime Minister made these remarks today (09) in Parliament while responding to a question raised by Member of Parliament Shanakiyan Rasamanickam.

The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated:

"The government is committed to delivering the justice to those who have been affected by the issue of disappearances. However, we cannot conduct these investigations on a personal basis and such matters must be addressed legally and institutionally.

The institutional and systemic failures in the past years mainly caused the delays in these matters. Therefore, such issues are needed to be addressed.

This is not about gaining popularity, instead it is necessary to establish institutions and environment to ensure that such incidents do not recur, while addressing the existing injustices.

The public has lost their trust in the Office for Reparations and the Office on Missing Persons because they were merely established in name and lacked adequate strength and were largely ineffective.

This is what happened in the past, and that is what expected to be corrected. Hence, it must be ensured that the right individuals are placed in positions, that sufficient resources are allocated, and that the institutions are capable of fulfilling their responsibilities.

There are still pending legal disputes related to the missing persons. Some of these cases have been under disputed for the past 16 years. It is not an easy task, but the government is committed to ensuring justice."

Additionally, the Prime Minister stated that the Cabinet has approved the proposal submitted by the Ministry of Justice to appoint a committee to provide recommendations for the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Prime Minister’s media Division