The Hon. Rohana Bandara

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, first a few matters:

¶ 02 Civil Security Department personnel seconded to the Police face distant transfers with inadequate pay relative to transport and subsistence. About 5,000 officers are being seconded to Wildlife to guard elephant fences, with transfers far from home districts (e.g., Anuradhapura to Padaviya). Many joined to protect their own villages and have served 20–30 years; the current transfers feel punitive. Please ensure fairness.

¶ 03 Postal Department: external substitutes now to be registered as substitutes per Gazette, but the age cap of under 30 excludes those already serving who met prior criteria. Provide a fair window for over-30s in service.

¶ 04 Graduates’ recruitment exam: while deadlines were extended to 5 March, please allow public servants who could not complete degrees due to COVID and the economic crisis to qualify if completed by, say, 31 December 2025, so they can enter the teaching service.

¶ 05 On today’s SCL Gazette: while there are 62 categories, discussion centers on potatoes and onions. I support protecting farmers via levies and import controls, but it must be fair and time-sensitive to crop seasons. Did we analyze multi-year monthly price series before fixing these year-round rates? Otherwise, consumers may face undue burdens and producers may not get satisfactory prices.

¶ 06 Even with levies, retail potato may not sustainably exceed Rs. 150/kg, while domestic cost of production is around that level. We need a mechanism to channel levy proceeds to support farmers—so they need not protest or dump produce on roads. Ensure steady retail prices for consumers and fair returns for producers, using levy revenue transparently for farmer support.

¶ 07 Paddy farmers currently suffer: prices recently fell to about Rs. 78/kg in Anuradhapura. Funds were allocated for paddy dryers—when will they be installed and operational at scale to help farmers? Act proactively so every farmer need not protest to obtain fairness. Thank you.