President tells EDCS members:

Invest funds prudently

Rasika Somarathna

Monies contributed to welfare societies and funds should be well managed and prudently invested, so as to give maximum dividends and benefits to its membership, President Mahinda Rajapaksa observed yesterday.

The President made the above observation addressing members of the Education Department Cooperative Society (EDCS) at Temple Trees where he awarded financial scholarships to children of EDCS members. Students who had excelled at Year 5 scholarship exam and those who had gained entrance to universities were awarded scholarships.

The President addressing the gathering recalled that the EDCS had been created in 1930 with the intention of providing a range of benefits to teachers, including loans in their hour of need and scholarships for their children. He pointed out that from its humble beginnings, the EDCS had grown to become one of the largest societies in the country with a membership of nearly 150,000 and total assets exceeding Rs. six billion.

The President advised officials who manage the EDCS to invest the monies contributed by the members prudently in order to provide maximum benefits to them.

President Rajapaksa also advised officials to ensure that members be given easy access monies and facilities provided by the EDCS.

The President told the scholarship recipients that they were benefiting due to wise investments made by their parents and advised them to use the monies to further their education.

The EDCS now provides scholarships to around 1750 university entrants and more than 3,000 students who have passed the Year 5 scholarship exam.

Cooperatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando, Education Minister Bandula Gunewardene, Higher Education Minister S.B.Dissanayake, Namal Rajapaksa MP, chairman of the EDCS Interim committee Sagara Kariyawasam, Secretary N.W.C.Nanayakkara also spoke.