The Hon. (Mrs.) Saroja Savithri Paulraj - Minister of Women and Child Affairs

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak. I entered Parliament as a first-time MP and was appointed a Minister. We hoped to bring a dignified political culture to this country, and we still believe it is possible.

¶ 02 We came here to frame policy, legislate, and ensure financial discipline and management. Representing women, we came to discuss policies and programmes—not to have our dignity diminished in Parliament. We say clearly: none of you can do that. We did not come here through political family dynasties, nor through the influence of parents, spouses, or siblings. We came through the votes of working, suffering people. We have the right to speak for the people and for women.

¶ 03 There is no “male-female” divide in politics; all here are political actors. We will not descend into mudslinging. We will maintain our dignity and discipline. Beyond shaping policy, we will help set the conduct of this House. From here onward, we will act by our discipline, policies, and culture, introducing that to the country, the economy, education, culture, and communities.

¶ 04 We, the 20 women MPs, are here for the women of this country—52 percent of the population. We will bear insults and slander so that the thousands of women behind us can overcome these challenges. We will not be cowed by sexist, ethnic, physical, or family-based attacks. We stand for all women.

¶ 05 Regarding today’s Supplementary Estimates under the Women and Child Affairs Ministry: Government proposes Rs. 1,500 million to provide nutrition packs to pregnant women. We see growing malnutrition and low birth weight—17.1 percent of births from 2021 to 2024. Many children exhibit stunting and wasting. We also intended essential-food concessions for Aswesuma beneficiaries during the April New Year, but the Election Commission withheld it due to the local authority election period. We now intend to use the saved funds to provide nutrition packs to undernourished pregnant and lactating mothers—Rs. 5,000 per pack—over a total 10-month period (6 months during pregnancy and 4 months lactation), beginning with a distribution in the upcoming Christmas season. With Presidential approval, and via the Women and Child Affairs Ministry, we will identify about 160,200 beneficiaries among approximately 280,000 pregnant mothers in Sri Lanka and provide Rs. 5,000 packs to those with undernutrition.

¶ 06 We present these data to move politics to a productive place, to be exemplary to those who entrusted us. This House must be a forum for policy and law-making, for fiscal discipline, and for national development. Let us all proceed together in that spirit. Thank you.