The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa - Minister of Health and Mass Media and Chief Government Whip

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, before replying on the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, I thank around 40 Members, including Hon. Dr. Kavinda Jayawardana and Hon. Dr. Ramanathan Archchuna, who presented views. I will address several of the points raised.

¶ 02 Let me begin with the Postal Department. The post and postal portfolio is rarely popular and seldom discussed. Often it is given because it cannot be left vacant. Over the past year, however, we have been able to bring the Postal Department to a certain level of stability and lay the foundation for its future.

¶ 03 For 8–10 years, the Department lacked necessary facilities. Yet it is a national asset: 650 post offices, 3,500 sub-post offices, a workforce of about 20,000, and a 228–230 year history. Properly harnessed, it can be elevated as a premier public service institution.

¶ 04 Postal employees provide massive services not counted as Departmental revenue—pensions, elderly allowances, monthly public assistance, health allowances, and free postal services. From January to September 2025, they facilitated Rs. 18,866 million in public assistance to 4,941,000 beneficiaries across the country—efficiently and without hassle, as recipients know.

¶ 05 With last year’s capital funds, we improved several facilities. As Hon. Ruwanthilaka Jayakody noted, I will not detail all, but we have allocated Rs. 600 million in capital this year for new buildings, including at Galewela and Matale...