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| Wednesday, 18 August 2004 |
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| Rs. 5100 m for Gemi Diriya poverty alleviation program by Uditha Kumarasinghe President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has reserved Rs.5100 million for the Samurdhi Ministry to implement a special poverty alleviation program named Gemi Diriya to uplift the socio-economic conditions of low income groups in rural areas, Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Deputy Minister Jagath Pushpakumara said. He said the World Bank has granted Rs.5100 million to the United People's Freedom Alliance Government towards its attempts to alleviate poverty among the country's low income groups particularly through the Samurdhi Movement. The Deputy Minister speaking at a ceremony at the Samurdhi Ministry yesterday to hand over appointment letters to 32 Samurdhi Development Officers promoted Samurdhi Managers, said under the Gemi Diriya program, the Government will implement a series of programs to improve the living conditions of low income people in rural areas. He said the President has laid key emphasis towards the uplift of the Samurdhi Movement to cater to the needs of low income groups. The President allocated Rs.5100 million through World Bank aid to the Samurdhi Ministry to implement the Gemi Diriya program. Meanwhile, the President has pledged that she will in no way prune down funds set apart for the Samurdhi movement in the future. The Deputy Minister said the Samurdhi Ministry will also implement 28,000 projects throughout the country next year to redeem the poor from poverty. The Ministry will seek assistance of 28,000 Samurdhi Development Officers and 3050 Samurdhi Managers as resource persons to implement these projects. The Samurdhi Movement commenced by President Kumaratunga in 1994 during the former PA regime has completed nearly 10 years. In 1995, the then PA Government presented the Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority (SLSA) Bill in Parliament to set up the SLSA as the key institution to implement the proposed programs of the Samurdhi Movement in a more productive manner, he said. "When the former PA Government allocated a large sum to the Samurdhi movement, various attempts were made by the former UNF Government to cripple the Samurdhi movement," he said. "The UNF Government had allocated only Rs.50 million to the Samurdhi movement as capital expenditure by 2002. "The former PA Government had allocated Rs.900 million to the Samurdhi movement as capital expenditure in 1997," he said. |
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