The Hon. Lasith Bhashana Gamage

¶ 01 Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Chairperson.

¶ 02 Before the lunch break, I was speaking on the expenditure head of the Ministry of Science and Technology. In the 2025 Budget, Rs. 5 billion has been allocated to the Ministry. In recent years, estimates were: 2019 – Rs. 1,867 million; 2020 – Rs. 1,912 million; 2021 – Rs. 2,354 million; 2022 – Rs. 2,653 million; 2023 – Rs. 5,697 million, but actual spent in 2023 was Rs. 1,873 million; in 2024, Rs. 3,070 million. For 2025, Rs. 5,000 million is allocated. The Hon. Dilith Jayaweera said only Rs. 108 million is for research facilitation; he has not seen that Rs. 7.78 billion is allocated to key research institutions and proposed expenditures, and Rs. 11.16 billion for major research activities. Our Minister also stated that over Rs. 20 billion is being directed to technology-related activities and research; the Ministry of Health has Rs. 760 million for medical research. These are not trivialities; every Ministry is allocating funds for research.

¶ 03 On gene technology, a “gene theft” occurred years ago; we cannot put a price on the loss. Those who governed then must be held accountable.

¶ 04 On the Ministry of Digital Economy, established under the President’s leadership, with our Deputy Minister Eranga Weeraratne and Chief Advisor Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya and a strong team: the people expect change from this Ministry. Rs. 7.1 billion is allocated to it, and Rs. 14.7 billion in other Ministries for digitalization projects. Having rescued the country from bankruptcy, in this first Budget we have increased allocations to Science and Technology and to the Digital Economy. Some said our policy proposals have not been funded; I wonder if they have read either our policy or the Budget.

¶ 05 On digitalization, we should start even within Parliament. This morning I saw piles of books on one side, a laptop on the other. Why cannot the contents of these books be on the laptop? Printing costs and paper waste are high. Let us put these materials on our devices. Also, the Parliament laptops have locks—why? Things within the Chamber do not go missing; perhaps they had to secure laptops previously. This is a matter of dignity—we should reflect whether it is salary or conduct that preserves our dignity.

¶ 06 Within Parliament, we must also move processes to digital. To develop human resources and set policy, many of our academics and professors, including Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya and Prof. Gomika Udugamasooriya, are with us. I invite all academics who benefited from free education to join us in developing human resources and taking science and technology to the villages. With that, I conclude. Thank you.