The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe

¶ 01 With the approval granted for providing land plots for housing to employees who have not received such plots, the Commission obtained the necessary approval.

¶ 02 Eligibility to receive a land plot is limited to employees of the Commission who have completed an unbroken period of five years of service and have not been subjected to disciplinary action; employees with more than five years of service were presented to the Commission with their service records for approval.

¶ 03 The current policy decision to grant land plots to employees of the Land Reforms Commission (LRC) was taken at the Commission meeting held on 2005.10.19. It was decided that the maximum extent per person shall be: - 10 perches in taxed areas - 20 perches in non-taxed areas

¶ 04 Under Commission Circular No. 4292 (Review No. 1), when transferring a land plot for housing to officers/employees of the Commission staff, the compensation already paid to the former legal owner must be taken as the basis. On that basis, when calculating the assessed value to be charged for a 20-perch plot, the amount charged was considerably lower than the prevailing amount, and therefore, in line with the 2007 General Circular, a fee of Rs. 1,000 was charged. That 2007 General Circular has since been rescinded.

¶ 05 The Land Reforms Commission is a statutory body, and upon an employee leaving service, they are legally entitled only to benefits from the Employees’ Provident Fund and the gratuity provided by the Commission. Therefore, I emphasize for kind attention that this is a program implemented with Commission approval targeting employee welfare.

¶ 06 Further, when issuing deeds to vest lawful ownership of land plots to employees by deed of transfer, and in some cases when converting plots to HBB (home-based business) use which created issues, plots already given were taken back by the Commission and alternative plots from other lands were provided. This method was applied not only to employees but, in some instances, to members of the general public receiving regular plots, and alternative plots were allocated under Commission approval by previous Chairmen who discharged duties.

¶ 07 However, in the Auditor General’s Report issued in 2023, a subject-matter audit opinion was expressed regarding land allocations. Accordingly, the present Commission is to consider those matters and suitably rectify them. I table the register of employee land beneficiaries as an annexure. Annex laid on the Table.

¶ 08 (iv) Not under any special privilege — that is, lands have not been given to LRC employees under any special concession. Instead, in terms of Section 22(1)(a) of the Act and with Commission approval under Section 44(o) to provide for employee welfare, provisions have been applied.

¶ 09 (v) The property has been transferred in accordance with the normal legal conveyancing process; therefore, it may be transferred to another party.

¶ 10 (vi) Once transferred by issuance of a “Sinnakkara” deed, the land becomes private property. No circumstances have arisen warranting a legal re-examination of such transfers.

¶ 11 (vii) Under Section 22(1)(a) of the Land Reforms Law No. 1 of 1972 as amended from time to time, use and transfer for residential purposes are permissible.

¶ 12 (viii) Not applicable in light of the above answers.