The Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, I am pleased to join the debate on the 2026 Budget. In the 2025 Budget, we stated in this House that allocations for the Eastern Province did not match people’s expectations. It was said that funding for Eastern development would be obtained from Indian assistance. Yet, nearly a year has passed and no development project in the Eastern Province has commenced under Indian funding. I regret to report this to Parliament.

¶ 03 Further, I table the details, as of 30 September 2025, of expenditures against allocations made under the 2025 Budget to ministries:

¶ 04 - For Special Expenditure Heads 1–25, of Rs. 45,593 million allocated, only Rs. 19,145 million has been spent (42%). - For the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Rs. 14,467 million allocated; Rs. 5,670 million spent (39%). - For the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Rs. 5,162,926 million allocated; Rs. 3,411,539 million spent (66%). - For the Ministry of Defence, Rs. 442,754 million allocated; Rs. 297,291 million spent (67%). - For the Ministry of Justice and National Integration, Rs. 54,307 million allocated; Rs. 26,566 million spent (49%). - For the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Rs. 519,514 million allocated; Rs. 274,537 million spent (53%). - For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Rs. 21,773 million allocated; Rs. 12,445 million spent (57%). - For the Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation, Rs. 489,230 million allocated; Rs. 240,805 million spent (49%). - For the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation, Rs. 218,382 million allocated; Rs. 100,903 million spent (46%).

¶ 05 Across the board, significant portions of 2025 allocations remain unspent. We must ask why. As representatives, we bring people’s problems here and Parliament allocates funds, yet utilisation lags. This demands urgent attention.