Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan, M.P.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB)· Nuwara - Eliya

Profession: Businessman

Roster profile ↗

Speeches 54 #91 of 225·#29 in party

Attendance 7/8 days present (of recorded)

Speech history

54 speeches

19 November 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan raised concerns about inadequate staffing, buildings, and service coverage in Divisional Secretariats, Pradeshiya Sabhas, and Grama Niladhari divisions in Nuwara Eliya District, particularly Norwood, Talawakelle, Walapane, Hanguranketha, and Kothmale. He requested the creation of additional DSDs and local authorities, recruitment of more GNs and Management Assistants, salary improvements, and appointment of unemployed graduates to fill service gaps. He also called for plantation communities to receive public services directly through GNs and DSDs without dependence on estate management, and requested fire engines for local bodies and a resolution to salary liabilities arising from the Ambagamuwa PS split. He further urged the Government to retain Provincial Councils, make any necessary legal amendments, and hold Provincial Council elections without delay. Debate: Appropriation Bill 2026 - Committee Stage (Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government; Ministry of Labour) InfrastructurePublic FinanceCorruption & Governance Reform Read →
14 November 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan stated support for the Government on the grounds that it had increased the wages of plantation workers. Debate Conclusion and Division: Disposals Bill 2026 – Second Reading Employment Read →
13 November 2025 AI summary Dr. Radhakrishnan welcomed the Budget’s proposed Rs. 200 wage increase for plantation workers and urged the Government to ensure it is paid without restrictive attendance conditions, including to workers employed for fewer than 25 days. He appreciated allocations such as Rs. 500 million for easing traffic in Hatton, the improvement in economic growth, and anti-corruption efforts, while stressing that social justice and welfare must reach all communities equally. He also called on the Government, given its parliamentary majority, to address Tamil political grievances by holding Provincial Council elections as an initial step toward devolution and a broader solution for the North and East. Debate: Appropriation Bill 2026 - Second Reading (Fifth Allotted Day) EmploymentCost of LivingPublic Finance Read →
24 October 2025 AI summary A petition was presented on behalf of Mrs. W. P. Erandi Lanka Weerasinghe of No. 03, High Forest, Kandapola. No further details on the subject of the petition were provided. Petitions: W.P. Erandi Lanka Weerasinghe Parliamentary Procedure Read →
22 October 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan raised concerns over difficulties facing potato and onion farmers, including reduced digging due to rains and unsold seed stocks in Sita Eliya. He urged the Agriculture Ministry to establish a planned, region-specific cropping system and regulate cultivation to avoid inappropriate crop choices across areas. He said 3,000 postcards from Kandapola would be sent to the President and the Minister seeking a proper response, warning of the political and economic consequences of neglecting these farmers. Debate: Rules under Excise Ordinance and Special Commodity Levy Order (Session 2) Agriculture Read →
22 October 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan raised concerns about severe losses faced by potato and vegetable farmers in Nuwara Eliya due to high production costs, low market prices, and competition from imported potatoes kept in cold storage. He said farmers are selling below cost, risking abandonment of cultivation, while seed potatoes remain unsold and related labour and trading activity have declined. He urged the Government to prepare a plan and adjust import levies in a timely manner, noting that earlier action could have reduced the present distress. Debate: Rules under Excise Ordinance and Special Commodity Levy Order (Session 2) Cost of LivingAgricultureEmployment Read →
9 October 2025 AI summary (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan began to address the House regarding “NEVIDA,” but the provided excerpt contains no substantive remarks, proposals, questions, or arguments to summarize. Adjournment Debate: Implementation of Manifesto - Continued Discussion Employment Read →
9 October 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan argued that economic recovery should not rely on higher taxation alone but on increased production, exports, and measures to improve incomes, particularly for poor, middle-class, plantation, and rural communities. He welcomed anti-corruption efforts and improvements in tourism and housing, but said these were insufficient without policies to reduce poverty, support small industries facing high electricity and tax costs, and ensure genuine guarantees for plantation housing. He also questioned rice price controls, arguing that enforcement against retailers is unfair unless mill-level prices are regulated, and requested a response on the New Villages Development Authority for Plantation Region. Adjournment Debate: Implementation of Manifesto - Continued Discussion Corruption & Governance ReformEmploymentCost of Living Read →
23 September 2025 AI summary The Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan welcomed the Bill to establish the National Building Research Institute, citing recent landslides and building collapses in hill-country plantation areas, including the collapse of a school in Kenilworth Estate. He linked the need for such an institute to ongoing vulnerabilities in plantation settlements and referred to NEVIDA, established under Act No. 32 of 2018, as a body responsible for housing, water and other development services for plantation communities. Second Reading Debate: National Building Research Institute Bill Land & HousingInfrastructure Read →
7 August 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan clarified a reference in an Oral Question answer given on 05.08.2025 regarding President’s Fund scholarships after 2005. He stated that the 2006 scholarship entry referring to “V. Radhakrishnan” and his wife was wrongly associated with him in media reports, and that it referred to Perumalpillai Radhakrishnan, while he himself was then a Provincial Councillor and not an MP. Personal Explanation by Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan Parliamentary Procedure Read →
7 August 2025 AI summary On behalf of the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Education, Manpower and Human Capital, Hon. (Dr.) V. S. Radhakrishnan presented the Committee’s Report on the Samurdhi (Amendment) Bill, which had been referred to the Committee. The report was ordered to lie upon the Table. Tabling of Reports and Petitions Parliamentary Procedure Read →
22 July 2025 AI summary Hon. V.S. Radhakrishnan proposed an amendment to insert a new clause specifying that plantation workers’ minimum wage should be Rs. 1,700 per day or an equivalent monthly salary. The amendment was moved in the context of the Bill’s provisions on minimum wages. Debate: National Minimum Wage of Workers and Budgetary Relief Allowance Bills (Second and Third Readings) Employment Read →
22 July 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan welcomed the Bill increasing the national minimum wage for private-sector employees, but argued that plantation workers remain underpaid and pressed the Government to implement a daily plantation wage of Rs. 1,700 or Rs. 2,000 as previously pledged. He questioned why the Government, despite its parliamentary majority, had not secured this increase and said a motion would be brought seeking support. He also called for Youth Clubs to be created according to estate areas rather than only GN divisions and warned against political interference through local authority leadership. He further welcomed Indian-assisted plantation housing plans while urging faster implementation, and asked that promised Government takeovers of estate hospitals be completed to ease pressure on district and urban hospitals. Debate: National Minimum Wage of Workers and Budgetary Relief Allowance Bills (Second and Third Readings) EmploymentHealthcareCost of Living Read →
22 July 2025 AI summary V. S. Radhakrishnan questioned whether the President was aware of a recent announcement of Rs. 1,700. The remark appears to seek clarification or accountability regarding that stated amount, likely in the context of a government decision or commitment. Debate: National Minimum Wage of Workers and Budgetary Relief Allowance Bills (Second and Third Readings) Public Finance Read →
22 July 2025 AI summary Raised a point of order questioning the Chair’s remark that no action was taken despite an agreement. He asked whether the President had knowingly announced the Rs. 1,700 figure, implying that the announcement was made with awareness of the agreement or related circumstances. Debate: National Minimum Wage of Workers and Budgetary Relief Allowance Bills (Second and Third Readings) Parliamentary Procedure Read →
8 July 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan argued that Sri Lanka must address its trade and budget deficits through better planning and management, noting high import expenditure, declining tea exports, risks to apparel exports from possible US tariffs, and the need for prudent control of vehicle and food imports. He called for support to local production, including agriculture, fisheries and salt, while raising concerns about the cost of living, the unmet Rs. 1,700 wage pledge for plantation workers, and the impact of 18% VAT on digital services. He also urged proper investigation and facilities for excavations at the Chemmani mass graves and requested that the Central Provincial Education Department avoid replacing the Tamil Zonal Director in the majority-Tamil Hatton Education Zone in a way that could heighten ethnic tensions. Debate: Imports and Exports (Control) Act - Salt Import Regulations (Gazette No. 2437/04) Ethnic Reconciliation & DevolutionEmploymentPublic Finance Read →
5 June 2025 AI summary The Hon. V.S. Radhakrishnan indicated that he wished to raise a question concerning the Ministry of Education. No further details of the question or issue were provided in the excerpt. Oral Question: Dehiattakandiya Land Rights (Deputy Minister Agriculture Response) Education Read →
20 March 2025 AI summary Dr. Radhakrishnan emphasized that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, with Rs. 714.2 billion allocated and responsibility for key revenue institutions, must ensure disciplined fiscal management, policy consistency, monitoring, and avoidance of waste. He welcomed anti-corruption commitments and urged decisive action in revenue-collecting bodies such as Inland Revenue, Customs, Excise, and import/export control agencies to increase national revenue. He called for a people-friendly Budget that reduces burdens on low-income groups, promotes equitable regional development, and allocates funds fairly to both Government and Opposition MPs, including for plantation-area roads, childcare centres, schools, temples, and multipurpose development work. He also proposed establishing more industrial estates and cottage industries in the hill country, using available land and closed factories to provide employment for local youth. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage Debate Cost of LivingCorruption & Governance ReformPublic Finance Read →
14 March 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan disputed that a District Coordinating Committee decision had been properly taken, stating that he was present until 1.00 p.m. and no such decision occurred in his presence. He objected to decisions being made without Opposition MPs, including Jeevan Thondaman and Palani Digambaram, and argued that expenditure for Hatton should not come at the expense of Norwood. He requested that the matter be reconvened the following month so all relevant MPs could decide jointly. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Parliamentary Procedure Read →
14 March 2025 AI summary Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan thanked the Minister’s commitment to provide ten-perch land plots and individual houses for estate workers, and urged equal attention to tea and rubber alongside coconut. He argued that plantation estates must be protected with workers’ welfare central to policy, called for clearer lease conditions or cancellations where companies fail to invest, and cited issues including blocked estate roads, barriers to electricity connections, and non-payment of the Rs. 1,700 basic wage. He also requested expanded housing for workers, staff and teachers, action on malnutrition and child health, and reopening closed factories to generate local employment. He supported recognition of “Malaiyaha people,” noted the dominance of smallholders in tea production, and urged mechanisms to better support them while addressing the gap between public investment in estate infrastructure and company responsibilities. Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee Stage - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure (Heads 135, 293, 337) Land & HousingEmploymentAgriculture Read →