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| Wednesday, 21 April 2004 |
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| Samurdhi ministry will introduce income generating projects - Pavithra by Uditha Kumarasinghe The new Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi yesterday said the prime objective of her Ministry was not merely to provide subsidies forever to the poor but also to introduce income generating projects to the low income groups to alleviate their poverty. The Minister made these remarks after assuming duties at her new Ministry at Reid Avenue, Colombo yesterday. Jagath Pushpakumara and Rohana Dissanayake also assumed duties as the Deputy Ministers. She said a great responsibility has been placed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and the Freedom Alliance on this Ministry. Therefore, the ministry will be firmly dedicated to fulfil these objectives of the Alliance. "The Freedom Alliance came to power to perform a honest job of work for the people. Especially, people have given a mandate to us to eradicate bribery and corruption. We will work with determination to make this goal a reality," she said. The Minister said the sole intention of the President and the Freedom Alliance is to bring lasting peace to the country and making it a more prosperous one. The whole responsibility of alleviating poverty and uplifting the socio-economic conditions of poor will be the main task of the Samurdhi Ministry. In order to fulfil this requirement, the Samurdhi ministry will act in collaboration with several ministries such as Agriculture, Industries, Housing, Fisheries, Lands and Cultural Affairs, she said. The Minister said her ministry will introduce a number of new programmes to alleviate poverty. Especially the ministry will seek the assistance of various international donor agencies to assist low income groups to uplift their income levels. " As the new Samurdhi Minister I will discuss with international funding agencies with the intention of introducing various income generating avenues to the poor to free them from poverty. Under the Gemi Diriya Programme, Rs.5 billion has been granted to the Ministry," the Minister said. |
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