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| Tuesday, 9 March 2004 |
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| Samurdhi Authority will be transformed into corporation: President by Rasika Olaboduwa President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said under the next Freedom Alliance Government she would take the Samurdhi Ministry under her wing and transform the Samurdhi Authority into a corporation which would safeguard the rights of Samurdhi beneficiaries and officials under a strong legal framework. She said this when a group of Samurdhi delegates requested her to take over and clean up the Samurdhi movement which they said is steeped in bribery, corruption and fraud, at a meeting at President's House on Sunday. A group of nearly 1,500 Samurdhi Development Officers, animators and Agricultural Research Officers attended the meeting and presented their grievances to the President. The President said the Samurdhi Movement was launched by the PA government to uplift the living conditions of the poor, while rebuilding Sri Lanka economically by eradicating bribery and corruption. The movement rendered a great amount of service at rural and regional level upto nearly 2001. But unfortunately, the UNP which assumed power in 2002, had severely curtailed Samurdhi Funds and undermined the progress of the movement, President Kumaratunga said. "The total number of Samurdhi recipient families which was two million had been reduced to nearly 1.4 million today. No one knew the actual figure because the Government was scared to divulge the statistics to the people" she said. The President said: "Our government spent Rs. 950 million for development projects launched in villages under the Samurdhi movement, but the UNP Government had spent only Rs. 50 million on such projects during the last two years." Recently there had been serious allegations of fraud regarding investments in Samurdhi savings accounts and nepotism in appointments made to the Samurdhi Social Security Fund. Thirteen audit queries made by the Auditor-General regarding Samurdhi Savings accounts have not been answered so far, she said. She said even the President of this country had no powers to defy audit queries. "Culprits responsible for such misdemeanours should be sent home," the President said. President Kumaratunga said when she first joined the Land Reform Commission as an Assistant Director, she was instrumental in creating 275 collective farms to harness youth for the country's agricultural Development effort. This project was ruined by the UNP which came to power in 1977, she said. "This experience in the Land Reform commission enabled me to realise the potential of youth in this country. So when the PA election manifesto was framed for the 1994 General Elections, she included the Samurdhi project in it as a means to harness youth potential for the national development effort" President said. The President said Minister S.B. Dissanayake got involved in the Samurdhi movement by chance as she offered him the Samurdhi Ministry in keeping with a pledge given to him earlier. Samurdhi is a unique peoples movement unprecedented in the whole world. So far it is only the first phase of the Samurdhi program which had been implemented in this country. In the event the Freedom Alliance is elected to power at the next elections, it will implement the second phase of this program to bring an economic revival to the people at rural and regional level, the President said. President, All Ceylon Samurdhi Managers Union Somasiri Liyanage, General Secretary, Jagath Kumara, Executive Committee Member, Samurdhi Surakeeme Vyaparaya, Sujith Weerakoon and several others also spoke. |
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