The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition
Sajith Premadasa raised concerns about the collapse and ineffectiveness of the Farmers’ Pension Scheme, noting the scale of paddy cultivation and the number of farmers affected. He asked the Deputy Minister whether the Government would study international models from India, Brazil, South Korea, and China and implement a stronger pension scheme, referring to a promise in the Government’s policy statement to replace the current weak system.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, with the Deputy Minister’s leave, may I make a brief clarification?
¶ 02 Thank you. Hon. Deputy Minister, Hon. Rohana Bandara asked an important question on the Farmers’ Pension Scheme. About 1.8 million people engage in paddy cultivation, over 708,000 hectares are under paddy. The pension scheme is collapsing and ineffective. I propose studying successful international models: India’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana (since 2019), Brazil’s Rural Social Insurance Programme, South Korea’s National Pension Service for farmers and fishermen (a contributory-plus-state-supported hybrid), and China’s New Rural Pension Scheme. Also, on page 114 of your policy statement “A Prosperous Country, a Beautiful Life,” you promise a strengthened farmers’ pension replacing the current weak one. Will you draw lessons from these models and launch a robust scheme?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 17 December 2024 ·No. 1734685396083959 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 17 December 2024. No. 1734685396083959. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/18130