The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, I came to raise a supplementary question.

¶ 02 All these tasks, including land tax, levies, cultivation loan recoveries, and distribution of fertilizer subsidies, fall under the responsibilities of Agricultural Research and Production Assistants (ARPAs). I believe your tabled document also outlines this. However, now these duties are being pushed to farmers’ organizations. These are financial matters, but no one is willing to take that responsibility. These officers are doing a large workload.

¶ 03 There are invasive plants in paddy lands and chenas. Mimosa pigra — the giant sensitive plant — is spreading. There is also that yellow-flowered aquatic plant proliferating in tanks. These have spread massively.

¶ 04 Their duties also include the removal of such invasives, yet no budgetary provisions have been allocated to them.

¶ 05 Recently, surveys were carried out on wild boar. However, even the SES removal program is not being implemented. They said they took them to Laggala and released them, that’s all — and even that only to a limited extent.

¶ 06 According to today’s newspapers, the ARPAs who handle all these tasks are to be removed from supervisory duties because, the Ministry says, if they oversee more than two ranges, no payments will be made. Therefore, they say they will launch an industrial action. Hon. Minister, if such a situation arises, the pressure will fall on the country’s farming community. There are many vacancies in these positions. Recruitment has not been done to fill them. Also, the required payments have not been made to officers. As the Ministry, what program are you implementing regarding this?