Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam, M.P.

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK)· National List

Profession: Medical Practitioner

Roster profile ↗

Speeches 87 #58 of 225·#4 in party

Attendance 7/8 days present (of recorded)

Speech history

87 speeches

10 November 2025 AI summary Asked the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development whether the Vavuniya–Kilinochchi section of the Northern Railway Line has severely dilapidated and unsafe railway crossings, with particular concern about the Puliyankulam area in Vavuniya. He sought confirmation of the Ministry’s responsibility to ensure public safety at these crossings and requested details of proposed remedial measures, or reasons if the concerns are not accepted. Oral Question: Vavuniya-Kilinochchi Section of Northern Railway Line – Dilapidated Railway Crossings (Q.1085/2025) Infrastructure Read →
23 October 2025 AI summary Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam raised concerns about public lands in Vavuniya still being occupied by security forces, citing the Vavuniya Police Station on Municipal Council land, the Iyangkulam Rest House used as an Army camp, and an STF camp on CEB land at Chettikulam. He asked whether these lands could be released 15 years after the war and requested that the matter be placed before the next District Development Committee. Oral Question: Tachchankulam–Moonrumurippu Main Road (Q.1/2025) Public FinanceLand & Housing Read →
23 October 2025 AI summary Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam questioned whether the distances cited by the Deputy Minister were measured from the start or far end of the village and suggested they appeared map-based. He asked that, if the main road remains closed for security reasons, the Vavuniya District Development Committee be instructed to include funding in the 2026 allocations to develop the alternative route so it is motorable, particularly for pregnant mothers and elderly residents. Oral Question: Tachchankulam–Moonrumurippu Main Road (Q.1/2025) InfrastructureSecurity & Defence Read →
23 October 2025 AI summary Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam asked the Minister of Defence whether restrictions around the Sri Lanka Air Force-held Tachchankulam Airport in Vavuniya, following land acquisition for expansion, had blocked long-used public roads, particularly the Tachchankulam–Moonrumurippu main road. He said residents of Tachchankulam now have to travel 12 kilometres instead of two kilometres to reach the Grama Niladhari office, and sought clarification on whether and when the road would be reopened for public use, or the reasons if it would not. Oral Question: Tachchankulam–Moonrumurippu Main Road (Q.1/2025) InfrastructureLand & Housing Read →
7 October 2025 AI summary Dr. Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam supported the amendments to the Convention Against Doping in Sport Act, stating that coaches and other team personnel who facilitate doping should also be punishable, and that Sri Lanka needs international cooperation and local testing capacity to enforce the law effectively. He raised concerns about wider drug abuse, including in public transport and schools, and called for stronger action against the drug trade and those financing it. He also urged the Health and Sports Ministries to address shortages of sports medicine specialists, sports infrastructure, and human resources in the North and East, and requested staffing approval to make non-functional rehabilitation centres in the Northern Province operational. Debate: Convention Against Doping in Sport (Amendment) Bill - Second and Third Reading HealthcareLaw & OrderEducation Read →
24 September 2025 AI summary Welcoming the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, he supported the new provisions on corporal and non-physical punishment of children but requested clearer definitions, including for “likely to cause humiliation,” and correction of discrepancies between the Tamil and English texts, particularly on the fine in Section 314A. He raised concerns that road-repair funds allocated for local authority roads in Vavuniya are being channelled through Government Agents without adequate consultation with local bodies, and requested coordination to ensure priority roads are selected. He also urged the Government to provide the newly upgraded Vavuniya Municipal Council with the required cadre and infrastructure, strengthen the district’s limited fire service, and reform local authority cadre structures to improve service delivery. Debate: Penal Code (Amendment) Bill - Second Reading InfrastructurePublic FinanceLaw & Order Read →
23 September 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam raised concerns about principals recruited in 2012 due to shortages in the war-affected province, noting that although they were later confirmed and receive comparable salaries, they lack certain entitlements. He said their administrative allowance, previously linked to school categorization and used for school-level needs, has been discontinued since 2018, and that they have not received transfers from hardship schools since 2012. He asked whether the Minister would seek Cabinet approval to amend the relevant circulars and address these issues during the Government’s tenure. Oral Question Q.6/2025: Principals' Recruitment and Confirmation Education Read →
23 September 2025 AI summary Asked whether the Prime Minister and Minister of Education was aware of Cabinet and Public Service Commission decisions appointing and confirming long-serving principals in difficult schools to supernumerary grades of the Sri Lanka Principals’ Service. He sought clarification on why their administrative allowance, previously paid until March 2018, has ceased; whether their requests for appointments to vacancies and mutual transfers are being rejected; and whether they are eligible for internal/inter-zonal transfers and promotions. Oral Question Q.6/2025: Principals' Recruitment and Confirmation Public FinanceEducation Read →
22 August 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam stated that he would ask the question. Oral Questions and Answers (Q.846/2025, Q.1024/2025, Q.1068/2025, Q.1070/2025, Q.1073/2025, Q.1076/2025, Q.1092/2025) Parliamentary Procedure Read →
20 August 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam raised a point of Order to correct an apparent mischaracterization of his earlier remarks. He clarified that he had referred to people or refugees returning to Sri Lanka through international airports, not to persons arriving illegally by sea. Debate: Samurdhi (Amendment) Bill, Rubber Control (Amendment) Bill, Sports Law Regulations, and Judicature Act Rules Parliamentary Procedure Read →
20 August 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam argued that poverty-alleviation programmes such as Samurdhi/Aswesuma require clearer communication in all languages, stronger monitoring, evaluation, and reforms to ensure funds improve household livelihoods rather than being misused. He called for equal sports facilities and opportunities in the North and East, including completion of long-delayed stadium projects in Kilinochchi and Vavuniya. He also urged the Government to establish and implement a national resettlement policy for war-displaced persons and to stop arresting UNHCR-assisted returnees for alleged illegal departure decades earlier, warning that recent arrests had reportedly led UNHCR to suspend repatriation. Debate: Samurdhi (Amendment) Bill, Rubber Control (Amendment) Bill, Sports Law Regulations, and Judicature Act Rules Justice & Human RightsCost of LivingEthnic Reconciliation & Devolution Read →
22 July 2025 AI summary Welcoming the wage amendment Bills, he said the Rs. 6,000 increase and incorporation of relief allowances into basic pay would improve benefits such as EPF/ETF, though the resulting Rs. 30,000 minimum wage from January 2026 remained very low. He urged progress on the delayed USD 65 million Indian grant for developing the Kankesanthurai harbour, arguing it would support investment, logistics, and national economic recovery. He also raised a Vavuniya North land dispute involving displaced farmers, Forest Department cases, Mahaweli Authority leases to settlers, and alleged large-scale forest clearing, calling for immediate government intervention to allow returning residents to cultivate their own lands. Debate: National Minimum Wage of Workers and Budgetary Relief Allowance Bills (Second and Third Readings) EmploymentLand & HousingEthnic Reconciliation & Devolution Read →
20 June 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam supported timely legal updates, welcomed the National Minimum Wage amendment, and urged that wage increases be incorporated into basic salary to affect pensions and entitlements. He requested that imported Siddha medicines, especially from India, be classified as medicines rather than cosmetics under import regulations to reduce duties and improve access in the North and East. He also called for a legal regulatory framework for private educational institutions, including tuition centres, and asked that the Vavuniya Nursing Training School be placed under the supervision of Vavuniya District General Hospital with proper funding and resources. Debate: Stamp Duty (Special Provisions) Act Order and Imports and Exports (Control) Act Regulations Public FinanceEducationHealthcare Read →
5 June 2025 AI summary Supported the Bill amending the National Transport Commission Act, noting that it expands the Commission’s remit to school, three-wheeler, office and other transport modes, and urged that the new regulatory powers be actively used. He requested development of Jaffna International Airport and revival of Vavuniya domestic aviation, as well as restarting a Mannar–India ferry service with port development for cargo. He highlighted road accident deaths and injuries as a major health and economic burden, called for improved school transport in the Vanni, and proposed annual roadworthiness and emissions certification for all public transport vehicles. Debate: National Transport Commission (Amendment) Bill - Second Reading InfrastructureLaw & OrderCost of Living Read →
21 May 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam said he supported investigations into alleged torture sites such as Batalanda and punishment for those responsible. He argued that victims of killings, bombings and disappearances over past decades should be remembered and treated equally, without branding some communities’ expressions of grief as racist. He urged the NPP Government to show empathy and equal concern for all affected people, warning that national progress depends on such equal treatment. Debate: Finance Act Order and Notification on Luxury Tax on Motor Vehicles - Continued (Afternoon Session) Ethnic Reconciliation & DevolutionJustice & Human Rights Read →
21 May 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam urged the Government to operationalize the completed but unused Vavuniya Economic Centre, built with 52 stalls at a cost of Rs. 263 million, to help farmers sell produce at fair prices. He argued that the North and East face a compounded economic burden from the war, with many widows, orphans, disabled persons, displaced families, and affected communities still lacking adequate development support 16 years after 2009. He called for practical measures including releasing unused lands held by the Forest Department for cultivation, improving access to finance, facilitating investors, and implementing quick programmes to help people become economically self-reliant. He also referred to India’s reported US$62 million grant for Kankesanthurai Port development and highlighted the need to improve its basic facilities. Debate: Finance Act Order and Notification on Luxury Tax on Motor Vehicles - Continued (Afternoon Session) AgricultureEthnic Reconciliation & DevolutionPublic Finance Read →
20 May 2025 AI summary The Hon. Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam supported the Adjournment Motion and said past use of Forest Department powers, including in 2014, had resulted in privately claimed lands being declared as forest, with some only now being released. He urged the authorities to allow sufficient time to verify whether affected lands are genuinely forest, release lands wrongly gazetted, and avoid issuing further forest-related Gazettes until people’s long-held lands, homesteads, tanks, and cultivated plots are properly excluded. Adjournment Motion: Land Settlement Gazette Notification 2430/2025 (Tamil Lands in North and East) EnvironmentParliamentary ProcedureLand & Housing Read →
10 April 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam said the Batalanda Commission Report records serious abuses during 1988–1990, including abductions, extrajudicial killings, vigilante activity with state involvement, obstruction of investigations, and protection of alleged perpetrators. He linked these findings to other periods of violence, including the southern insurrection and the war in the North and East, arguing that many commission reports on grave abuses have remained unimplemented. He urged the Government to investigate those named, prosecute where warranted, and implement the recommendations of this and other commissions to ensure accountability and prevent recurrence. Debate: Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Batalanda Torture Chambers Justice & Human RightsCorruption & Governance ReformLaw & Order Read →
8 April 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam raised concerns about farmers’ access to fields, stating that the road requires immediate rehabilitation and that crossing the Paranki Aru anicut becomes impossible during the rainy season due to submergence. He requested provision in the current year’s budget for at least a footbridge if a full bridge cannot be built, and called for sluices to be repositioned, arguing that farmers had been misled about water reaching the tanks because of elevation differences. Oral Question: Drinking Water Supply Vavuniya (424/2025) InfrastructureAgriculture Read →
8 April 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam said affected persons from a project completed 13 years ago still hold only temporary permits and have been resettled in forest areas vulnerable to elephant incursions, asking whether funds will be allocated for protective measures. He also raised irrigation defects, stating that newly interconnected tanks have improperly positioned sluices that prevent water from reaching higher fields, and requested their repositioning. He further asked whether a 3 km access road, currently unusable in rainy seasons, could be rehabilitated under Budget allocations for Northern rural roads. Oral Question: Drinking Water Supply Vavuniya (424/2025) AgricultureLand & HousingInfrastructure Read →