Hon. Nanda Bandara

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, today we amend two important laws—the Samurdhi Act and the Rubber Control Act—and consider Regulations under the Sports Law and the Judicature Act.

¶ 02 Successive Governments have tried various poverty alleviation schemes: from stamp books, to Janasaviya, to Samurdhi in 1995, then Divi Neguma, and now Aswesuma. Yet poverty has not reduced as expected. Instead, people have been trapped in a handout mentality for 76 years. We must remove that mindset from our children. We are not born poor; poverty is produced by wrong systems. Our National People’s Power Government proposes education reforms to shape mindsets, provide vocational education, and enable dignified, self-reliant livelihoods across all communities.

¶ 03 Many past programs lacked proper oversight and national audits, especially in the Samurdhi community banking system—about 1,092 societies with roughly Rs. 250 billion in deposits and around 335 apex societies. Irregularities occurred. The core aim of these amendments is to strengthen financial discipline and transparency, provide concessional credit for livelihoods, and, crucially, ensure post-disbursement monitoring to see whether loans are productively used.

¶ 04 Under Aswesuma too, abuses occur; some beneficiaries spend cash grants (Rs. 5,000/8,000/15,000) on narcotics instead of investment. We must pivot to support self-employment and rural production, and ensure market access. Our Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment outlined new measures: forming People’s Power Committees, strengthening Samurdhi Banks, providing microcredit with follow-up to ensure proper use, and reducing political interference so benefits reach those in real need, regardless of party or colour.

¶ 05 We envisage that, instead of queuing for handouts, people will come asking for help to start livelihoods. We will expand vocational training and universities, open domestic and foreign labour markets to our youth, increase remittances, and reduce poor households by 2030.

¶ 06 A program to empower 52 persons per village is underway. We are not cutting people off arbitrarily; we are building pathways so they can stand on their own. Thank you.