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by Rodney Martinesz

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday that he would continue with the Samurdhi program under the same name with improvements.

Addressing an election rally in Hanguranketha he said that speical attention would be paid to the children of Samurdhi recipients under the modified programme. "Every child in the country under the age of three would be provided with a glass of milk per day and relief provided to widows and abandoned females under a program jointly conducted by the Samurdhi Movement and the "Kantha Diri Piyasa" of the Lak Vanitha Movement.

The Samurdhi program would be completely freed from politics and made more dynamic, the UNP leader said.

Wickremesinghe observed that President Premadasa introduced the Janasaviya program and S.B. Dissanayake took this forward in a more progressive form.

"There was no point in debating which programme was better so long as it brought relief to the poor."

He said Samurdhi recipients would be provided with loans through organisations like "Sanasa" and Agromat to set them up in small businesses.

Bursaries would be offered to school leavers to sit courses in state or private institutes while steps would be taken to increase the present university intake upto 100,000 by removing all restrictions now being imposed.

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