The Hon. Rathna Gamage - Deputy Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to join this debate on the 2025 Budget. We believe this Budget departs from convention—people‑centred, progressive, and scientific—the country believes so too.

¶ 02 Ordinarily, budgets attract critical presentations, but this time they are fewer. We see both form and substance here. It has an attractive form and strong substance—both quality and longevity. It is a Budget with a beautiful cover and wholesome, lasting content.

¶ 03 This is the first Budget of our government. Our slogan is “Prosperous Country – Beautiful Life,” and the Budget clearly reflects our core programme: a production economy with people’s participation and fair distribution of its gains. The proposals are realistic. Having considered Opposition criticisms, we find nothing tenable—they, too, know this Budget has both good form and substance.

¶ 04 Our policy is based on a production economy. We have been in office about five months, during which we faced multiple challenges—rice and coconut issues among others. We accepted responsibility, not blaming the past, and we have crafted forward plans within this Budget. It is very clear.

¶ 05 This Budget sets out a plan for agriculture. From the moment President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office, we advanced a systematic programme to build a production economy. We merged Agriculture, Livestock, Lands, and Irrigation into a single ministry on scientific grounds. Within the first 10 days of his presidency, why did we grant Rs. 25,000 per hectare to cultivating farmers? To revive the economy. We also provided fuel subsidies for fishers because we have a vision and we act accordingly.

¶ 06 We acknowledged the broken rice supply chain problem—though not created during our tenure—and prepared a plan. Hence, Rs. 35 billion has been allocated for paddy cultivation; a further Rs. 5 billion for paddy procurement in 2025; and Rs. 78 billion for irrigation in 2025. With this planned approach, the broken rice issue is now resolved; we will not let it recur. We are putting the country on the right path and invite our citizens to join this progressive journey.

¶ 07 For the agricultural supply chain, we plan to establish a rail-based system to move harvests from farms to consumers, overcoming transport bottlenecks—this is a durable, systemic solution.

¶ 08 We also faced a coconut crisis—again, we accepted it. According to our plan, by 2030 the country will need 4,500 million coconuts annually: 1,800 million for households and 2,700 million for industry. Therefore, we will launch the “Northern Coconut Triangle,” for which Rs. 500 million has been initially allocated. This is our vision and programme for a production economy.

¶ 09 On fisheries: we are an island nation rich in ocean resources. For 2024, Rs. 7,000 million was allocated; in 2025, Rs. 11,400 million—an increase of 62.85 percent. This is how we drive the production economy forward, across agriculture, cultivation, livestock, and industry.

¶ 10 Building the national economy requires people’s participation on a cooperative basis, following the “one for all, all for one” concept, similar to models like Fonterra’s in New Zealand’s dairy sector. We have allocated Rs. 500 million initially to organise such participation.

¶ 11 This year, we will empower village societies to harvest and distribute paddy: establish village committees, set up 8 rice mills, harvest, mill, and distribute to the people—placing power in the people’s hands. That is public participation.

¶ 12 We will ensure fair distribution of benefits—from the youngest child to the elderly. Pre‑school meal allowance increased from Rs. 60 to Rs. 100; pre‑school teacher allowance increased by Rs. 1,000; Grade 5 scholarship stipend from Rs. 750 to Rs. 1,500; school sports nutrition allocation from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000; Mahapola scholarship from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 7,500; university bursary from Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 6,000; kidney patient allowance from Rs. 7,500 to Rs. 10,000; elderly assistance from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000. This is fair distribution of the production economy’s dividends.

¶ 13 Thus we say: the form is attractive, the substance is good, the taste is rich, and the durability is long—such a Budget has not been presented before. While some in the Opposition grieve, a great majority of the people are happy. This Budget is to build a just society: a prosperous country, a beautiful life. For society, Rs. 5,000 million is allocated to the Clean Sri Lanka programme.

¶ 14 This is not merely cleaning roads or beaches. Systems exist materially and conceptually; we must cleanse both. Materially, with people’s participation, we clean our surroundings. To cleanse hearts, we increased wages: raised the basic salary—something long neglected. Private sector minimums increased by Rs. 21,000 to Rs. 27,000, moving to Rs. 30,000 next year. The daily wage increased from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,350 and will go to Rs. 1,700. This paves the way for a humane society.

¶ 15 Contrary to claims that our governance would halt religious and cultural activities, allocations for Cultural, Buddhist, and Religious Affairs increased: from Rs. 7.9 billion (2023) and Rs. 10.6 billion (2024) to Rs. 13.52 billion this time—about a 30% increase. We love our culture and aim to nurture compassionate, altruistic people who love nature and animals.

¶ 16 Hon. Presiding Member (The Hon. Presiding Member)

¶ 17 Hon. Member, your time is over.