Parliament

Fertilizer subsidy helped boost paddy production - Minister Vasudeva

Sandasen MARASINGHE and Disna MUDALIGE

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa presided when Parliament met at 1.00 pm yesterday. After presentation of papers and oral questions, the House took up regulations under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act for debate.

Social Integration and National Languages Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara:

We must be proud that, Sri Lanka is in a position to export paddy and rice. We export rice, since the country has more than enough rice for its consumption. Paddy production increased rapidly due to the fertilizer subsidy and the development of the Paddy Marketing Board, under the present regime.

The drought has affected many countries and the WFO has warned the world of a food scarcity.

Therefore, we must be careful only to export only the excess amount saving enough stocks for local consumption. Therefore, a price control for rice and paddy exports has been introduced by the government.

The Rice production in the country has been affected to some degree due to the drought. The introduction of a price control for rice and paddy will limit exports.

The strengthening of the Petroleum Corporation will indirectly help strengthen farmers. The net profit that the farmers obtain from one kilogramme of paddy amounts to about Rs 7.50. Eventhough fertilizer is given at subsidized prices, farmers have to bear expenditure for fuel.

The country is self-sufficient in maize and several other crops too. We now have to concentrate on developing seed paddy varieties that are resistant to the drought.

Dr Harsha de Silva (UNP) -

The profit of farmers differs according to the region. The country had been self-sufficient in paddy even in 2003. There had been an excess of 200,000 metric tons of paddy in 2003, due to cultivations in the North and East paddy lands during the peace agreement.

The economy must be managed properly. The drought is a result of poor water management. The trade deficit of the country from January to May has increased to USD 4,184. This was an increase by 25. We have to boost our exports.

S C Muthukumarana (UPFA):

MP Harsha de Silva attempted to bring out an argument that the limitation of paddy exports is not fair, since the government should be encouraging exports to boost export income. As a person who represents farming community in villages, I know that farmers. 'Eventhough they are exclusively indebted to outside parties only sell paddy after stocking enough for his family's consumption. The same practise must be followed by the country, specially at a time that the world is warned of a food crisis. Therefore Harsha MP's argument is immature and foolish. I regret the poor common sense of opposition MPs, that even farmers are well aware of.

Deputy Chairman of Committees Chandrakumar Murugesu takes the chair.

Ajith P. Perera (UNP)

The situation of country is pathetic today.

The resignation of SEC chairman Thilak Karunarathne provides ample evidence to this fact. Chinese technology thermal power is very low in comparison with the technology in the US and Europe. But the Norochchole power plant has been constructed with a low standard technology.

Sriyani Wijewickrama (UPFA):

The drought did not affect the Ampara district very much, so the paddy harvest from Ampara is coming to the market. The Paddy cultivations in the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts are affected by the drought. It is very wise to control paddy and rice exports to make the country self sufficient in rice. However, the rice cultivated exclusively for the purpose of export is not controlled. So this is a good decision.

S. Sritharan (TNA):

The dominance of China in Sri Lanka can affect us. It seems that only China could maintain its dominance in Sri Lanka.

It is predicted that the China would become the economic power house in the world.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake (DNA):

The government is attempting to say that there is a severe drought in the country. However, it is not fully true. The tanks and reservoirs have not been maintained well for cultivation. They are used to promote tourism. Hotels are built in the catchment areas and silt is accumulated in the tank bed. So water is not stored in them.

Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody takes the Chair

Chandrakumar Murugesu (Deputy Chairman of Committees):

In Vanni, Kilinochchi, Manar etc. have been resettled. During the last three years their lifestyle have changed. There is a need to grant them more facilities. The people in North do not have an opportunity to sell their paddy harvest, unlike the people in the South.

Eran Wickramaratne (UNP):

Deputy Chairman of Committees takes the Chair

We know there is a drought in the country. But there is a network of tanks constructed to solve such problems. Farmers are facing difficulties and retired farmers are living with great difficulties. The government should grant them a pension scheme.

Johnston Fernando (Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister):

The drought is affecting not only Sri Lanka but also India and USA. But the opposition parties in these countries do not blame the governments for the drought. MP Harsh de Silva said the country became self sufficient in paddy in 2003.

Ranil said that the paddy concession could not be given. However, President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave fertilizer at Rs. 350.

During President R. Premadasa's regime, the Paddy Marketing Board was closed and garments factories were set up in those buildings. Now the paddy harvest increased to 4.3 million tons. We have now been able to export 100,000 tons of paddy. However, the government has decided to control paddy export due to the present situation.

Some people think they can win the election by talking about drought.

The UNP would not be able to win an election for the damage they caused to farmers.

House adjourned until 1 pm today.

At Adjournment

Mechanism formulated to mete-out justice to A-L students - Minister SB

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake yesterday said in Parliament that a mechanism has been formulated to mete-out justice to the Advanced Level students who faced injustice due to Z Score system and it will be executed when the approval of the Supreme Court is received.

He made this observation in response to an adjournment motion moved by UNP MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

Akila Viraj Kariyawasam (UNP):

The country's education sector is heavily engulfed with problems. There had been a number of errors in the Advanced Level Examination this year. These errors inconvenienced the students a lot.

The A/L deals with the future of the students. The authorities in the Examinations Department must be responsible for these errors. This proves their inefficiency.

The Z Score issue is another fiasco. Even the second method of calculation of the Z Score has proved to be incorrect. This happened due to lack of proper regulation within this sector. The help of experts is not properly sought by the Government.

The academics strike is also continuing. I just got to know that all universities except Medical faculties have been closed down due to the strike.

The entire education sector is in a crisis. The A/L paper marking is also problematic with the lecturers' strike. We are to hold a protest on the Z Score issue tomorrow near the Fort Railway Station.

Ajith P Perera (UNP):

I second the motion. There is no doubt a large number of problems have erupted in the education sector.

The education directly connects with the future of the country. The investment on the education in the post-war scenario is inadequate.

The government only spends less than two percent for the education, whereas UNESCO recommends to allocate six percent for education of any country.

The lecturers have been striking continuously for more than a month now.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena:

Being honest to my conscience I would like to concentrate on two issues presented here. We have not interfered with the country's examination system and we believe politicization of education should not happen. The UGC is independent in selecting the students for the universities and the Examinations Commissioner is independent to carry out a suitable examination and evaluation system.

If there has been a severe collapse in the education sector, I believe an adjournment motion is insufficient to deal with it.

The number of IAB schools at the end of 17 years reign of the UNP was 586. In 2011, this number has risen to 720. The number of trained teachers has gone up by 45.5 percent. Today about 90 percent of the teachers cadre is consisted of trained teachers.

The distribution of school uniforms, textbooks and other facilities function smoothly.

The expenditure on such facilities has risen over the years. Since 2005, we provide lunch for schoolchildren. The government has not curtailed expenses on education.

The world education specialists and experts have made education indices. The percentage of admission to grade 1 was 89.2 percent in 1994, whereas this percentage in 2011 was 98.2 percent.

The literacy rate which was 87.2 percent in 1994 has risen to 96.4 percent. As a nation we must be proud of these facts.

The computer literacy has improved to 38 percent today from 17 percent in 2005. We hope to raise this up to 75 percent by 2016. The per capita expenditure on a student amounts to about Rs. 24,610.

Sri Lanka is in the forefront when comparing education statistics with other South Asian countries. This is an achievement reached with commitment.

The pass marks of examinations are decided by the Examinations Department. I, as the Minister, cannot intervene in this decision- making.

I table the report of the Examinations Commissioner for the information of the public and House on the examination process. Our students have obtained more medals at the Olympiad contest. How can one argue that the education has collapsed?

Kariyawasam MP stated that there are many errors in the A/L examination papers of this year.

About 216 lecturers made 532 question papers and altogether 5.2 million papers were printed. When there are 4 amendments in those question papers it is 0.75 percent as a percentage.

At least it is lesser than 0.1 percent. This is a serious business. So we can't compell the profession. This is not the first time that amendments were made to the question papers.

S. Sritharan (TNA):

This Z Score issue created numerous problems to the Advanced Level students.

The Parliament should take measures to issue directions to stop putting the students into trouble. The allocations made to education is very low. This Government allocated a lot of money on war but not for education.

Vijith Vijayamuni Soysa (Education Deputy Minister):

MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake made a special statement in Parliament under Standing Order 23(2) today. In the evening MP Akila moved an adjournment motion on the same matter. However, the Opposition does not have a unity on moving a motion in Parliament.

Today this country is on a novel path. A large number of people are coming back to Sri Lanka as the country is peaceful. They want to admit their children to government schools and not to international schools. If the education is collapsed why do they need to admit their children to government schools?

Mangala Samaraweera (UNP):

We had one of the best education systems in the world and we could gain a great literacy rate. The achievements and the education system was envy of many countries in the region.

However, the education system is dwindling since 2005. The country is allocating only 1.7 percent on education while even the Maldives allocates 8.7 percent.

The Z Score system is in use since 2000 and it was applied without any flaw. Do not treat the university lecturers as terrorists.

Mohan Lal Grero (UPFA):

The collapse in education is a fiction of media, Opposition and certain group of people. But there is no such a collapse that can be proved with statistics.

However, there is not a proper guide line for our education system by means of a detailed Act. So that from time to time certain government politicized the education system.

There was no constructive criticism made by anyone here.

However, only in one physics paper the mistakes have been made at large a number of occasions. But these mistakes did not become a talking point like today. So these discussions have a destructive effect on our education system and on children.

When we consider the Cambridge examination's physics papers in last 3 years there were many mistakes.

They also have made amendments. They can minimize these flaws. So far this year we have only six mistakes in the papers and it is commendable.

Vijitha Herath (DNA):

Grero MP said the errors in papers occurred due to proof readers. Is that a responsible answer? However, the Department must have ensured that the papers have no errors before they distribute them to students. Now, the students who have the knowledge as well as those who do not have the knowledge get marks since all are given marks to rectify the errors. This is not an appreciable move.

The allocations for the education should be increased. Even the Swaziland spends more than six percent of its GDP for education.

Kabir Hashim (UNP):

It is regrettable that the Education Minister did not heed the students complaints on the Z Score problem at the early stages, forcing these students to seek the help of the courts. When we brought this adjournment today he criticized that we are trying to politicize the issue. I doubt how the ministers who do not want to understand that there are problems and are able to find solutions to them.

The entire education system is in a quandary. This must be understood and healed. The free education must be protected.

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake:

There had been 11 errors in the Chemistry paper of 2011. Occurring of such errors is not extraordinary. Grero MP clarified this fact extensively. But I regret that Vijitha Herath MP has not understood what he said.

He never said that proof readers must be responsible for the problem. What he said was that the professors who made the papers should perform the duties of a proof reader too to maintain the confidentiality of the exam papers.

I would like to ask the House, of whose mistake that the students who obtained 3 A's have been unable to obtain university admission.

The UGC made a system where all the students are met with justice. But Prof. Thatil and several more groups went to Court asking to change it. The JVP was backing this move. Now the Z Score have been released as ordered by the Court.

With increasing complaints from the students, the government has decided to increase the intake to be fair to all students who are inconvenienced by this issue.

Now we are taking measures to enable this move. The President has given directives to facilitate every possible relief to these students.

The Z Score mechanism introduced by the UGC had been formulated to be utmost fair to students, even considering past Supreme Court decisions. We respect the Supreme Court.

Many also drew attention to the lecturers strike. There had been so many round table discussions with our ministry, the Secretary to the President and Minister Basil Rajapaksa with the FUTA. All these attempts were in vain, since the FUTA did not agree pointing out various reasons.

They are continuing the strike. We have looked at their demands at a very fair angle. However, we see that there is an unforeseen political hand behind the lecturers' strike. Some universities have not joined in this strike.

All the countries which allocate six percent of the GDP towards education, charge fees for higher education.

It is during the regime of Ranil Wickremesinghe of the UNP that a single graduate was not given employment. Today the higher education is flourishing and these students have a brighter future.

The House adjourned until 1.00 pm today.

Two petitions filed against Divi Neguma Bill - Speaker

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa making an announcement yesterday informed Parliament that two petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court against the Divi Neguma Bill.

He said he has received the copies of the two petitions. Meanwhile, the Divineguma Bill has been included in the Order Paper of Parliament pending for the Second Reading.

The Divi Neguma Bill was presented for the approval of the House by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa in early August.

Opposition Leader requests to table UPR in Parliament

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday requested to table the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) sent by the Sri Lankan government to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Parliament. Raising a Point of Order at the commencement of public business of Parliament, the Opposition Leader asked the government to table this document for the information of the House.

Chief Government Whip and Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena stated that External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris would respond to the concerns of the Opposition on the UPR at the adjournment debate in Parliament today.

TNA MP R. Sampanthan is to move an adjournment motion on the implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC today and Prof. Peiris is to make a detailed speech in the House in response to the motion. Minister Gunawardena said he would inform the matter raised by the Opposition Leader to Minister Prof. Peiris and that he would respond to all queries on this matter during his scheduled speech.

Over 5,560 children at day care centres - Minister Karalliyadda

Child Development and Women Affairs Minister Tissa Karalliyadda yesterday stated that 5,567 children are cared for at day care centres in the country.

He stated that there are 582 day care centres maintained in the country. He added the authorities are concerned on the standard of these day care centres. The minister also stated that there are 1,274 caretakers in these day care centres.

He made these observations in response to a question raised by UNP MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

'Licence system introduced to export special rice varieties'

A licence system will be introduced to export special varieties of rice, Social Integration and National Languages Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said in Parliament yesterday.

Presenting the Regulations under the Imports and Exports (control) Act, the minister stated that special rice varieties, which are cultivated mainly for exports will be allowed to be exported under a new licence system. The minister stated that an export tax and a minimum price have been introduced for the exportation of normal varieties of rice and paddy concentrating on the drought and impending world food crisis.

He said this step has been taken to ensure adequate paddy stocks for local consumption.