The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education
The Prime Minister provided a detailed update on relief measures following Cyclone “Ditcha”, stating that 2,487,114 persons were affected and tabling district-wise annexes on impacts and grant payments. She said one-time housing grants of Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000 had largely been disbursed, while compensation for fully and partially damaged houses was still at an early stage, with remaining funds requested and appeals under review. She also reported that 207,312 affected schoolchildren were eligible for a Rs. 25,000 grant for books, stationery and clothing, funded through Disaster Management allocations and the President’s Fund, with most payments completed but no fixed date set for full completion.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 (a) 1. Number of persons affected by Cyclone “Ditcha”: 2,487,114. District-wise incident report tabled as Annex 01. 2. As at 2026.02.15: - Houses paid Rs. 25,000 grant: 426,963 (district-wise details tabled as Annex 02). - Houses paid Rs. 50,000 grant: 144,377 (district-wise details tabled as Annex 03). 3. Houses selected for damage compensation and paid: - Fully damaged houses: selected 6,088; paid 210. - Partially damaged houses: selected 118,889; paid 2,992. - Total selected 124,977; paid 3,202. 4. Upon cessation of the immediate emergency, two one-time grants are provided to affected households: - Rs. 25,000 per dwelling for cleaning and making safe for re-occupation. - Rs. 50,000 per dwelling for purchase of essential household items for re-occupation. As at 2026.02.20, Rs. 25,000 payments have been completed for 98.07% and Rs. 50,000 for 86%. Remaining provisions have been requested by District Secretaries through Divisional Secretaries. Appeals are being considered. No fixed completion date has been set. (b) 1. Number of eligible schoolchildren for a one-time grant to purchase books, stationery and clothing as at 2026.02.20: 207,312. 2. Grant amount: Rs. 25,000 per student. 3. Disbursement: Rs. 15,000 from Disaster Management allocations via Divisional Secretariats; Rs. 10,000 from the President’s Fund via Divisional Secretariats. 4. As at 2026.02.15: Rs. 15,000 component paid to 159,271 students; President’s Fund component paid to 196,467 students. 5. All affected students are eligible. 6. Remaining provisions have been requested by District Secretaries through Divisional Secretaries; appeals are being processed. No fixed completion date has been set.
¶ 02 Annexes tabled: - Annex 01: District-wise impact of Cyclone “Ditcha” (persons affected 2,487,114; 340 DS divisions affected; summary table). - Annex 02: Rs. 25,000 grant payments by district as at 2026.02.15 (total beneficiaries 426,963; progress and balances). - Annex 03: Rs. 50,000 grant payments by district as at 2026.02.15 (eligible 172,665; paid 144,377; progress 83.48%; district remarks).
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 ·No. 23360 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 4 March 2026. No. 23360. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/13346