The Hon. (Dr.) Upali Pannilage - Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, the proposal presented by Hon. Sugath Wasantha de Silva is one we, as a government, consider a very timely proposal. Also, for the first time in the history of the Sri Lankan Parliament, a person with a disability represents this House. As a person with a disability, that Hon. Member represents persons with disabilities in our country and draws special interest and attention to them, which is very important.

¶ 02 As a government, we know that a policy on persons with disabilities has been in force in Sri Lanka since 2003. However, that policy is many years old. We, as a government, are working to update and redraft it to suit today’s society and our country, present it to this Parliament, and have it approved.

¶ 03 If we look at our country’s history, we have often viewed persons with disabilities as people who should receive compassion, charity, or someone’s assistance—essentially through a medical model. But persons with disabilities are not to be understood only through such a medical lens. The world has advanced beyond that. We now consider them through a social model of disability—as equal citizens in society. It is from such a perspective that our National People’s Power government considers them.

¶ 04 Particularly, focusing on what is stated in this proposal, in the decision-making process regarding persons with disabilities, data is very important to us. Regrettably, over the past years, the gazettes that grant assistance to persons with disabilities have stated numbers of persons, but, for example, the previous government referred to persons with disabilities as “persons with diverse abilities” and indicated assistance would be given to 410,000 people. But the reality is that this is entirely incorrect information. In truth, we know that assistance is provided to fewer than 150,000 persons with disabilities in this country. This shows that decisions in this Hon. Parliament have been taken not on the basis of accurate data. Therefore, as the National People’s Power government, particularly through our Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment, we have paid special attention to preparing a comprehensive policy on persons with disabilities in line with United Nations conventions.

¶ 05 Along with that, I wish to state to this House that in this year’s Budget Speech, His Excellency the President, as Minister of Finance, allocated an additional Rs. 100 million to establish a data system regarding persons with disabilities. Through all this, we, as a government, will act for the protection and broad empowerment of persons with disabilities. Expressing our government’s full support for this proposal and stating that we will act upon it, I conclude. Thank you very much.