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Samurdhi-private sector to provide jobs for youth

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The Samurdhi movement will launch several income generating projects in collaboration with the private sector to provide direct employment to a large number of unemployed youth of Samurdhi beneficiary families.

The objective of this endeavour is to assist the Government's efforts to eradicate poverty and minimise youth unemployment by harnessing the support of the private sector, Samurdhi Director General Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne told the Daily News yesterday.

As the first stage, Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority (SLSA) has signed an agreement with Cargills (Ceylon) Ltd to sell their ice cream through youth belonging to Samurdhi recipient families. Youth employed under this program will be given a three wheeler to sell Cargills ice cream in major cities throughout the country, he said. Initially Cargills will provide employment to 100 youth selected from Samurdhi recipient families within the next two months. However, the intention of this program is to provide employment to 200 youth during this year.

Meanwhile on a concept of Agriculture, Livestock and Samurdhi Minister S. B. Dissanayake, the SLSA in collaboration with Milco (Pvt) Ltd hopes to deliver fresh milk, bread and newspapers to customers at their doorstep through a home delivery program to be launched shortly.

Dr. Nawaratne said the SLSA will shortly sign an agreement with Milco to commence this project creating employment avenues to unemployed youth of Samurdhi families. Initially, three wheelers will be given to 100 youth for this purpose. According to the progress achieved, another 100 youth will be recruited by Milco.

He said the objective of the Samurdhi movement is to commence larger projects in collaboration with the private sector. Therefore any private company is welcome to join hands with the Samurdhi network to help eradicate poverty among low income groups.

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