The Hon. Wasantha Piyathissa - Deputy Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, among the two Ministries under debate, I wish to present points relating to Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment.

¶ 02 The Leader of the Opposition said this morning that the President presented the Budget without any statistics or teeth. In fact, we have presented this Budget based on the currently available, lawful data systems. Those who ruled for 76 years—blue for ~30 years and green for ~30—if they had built a proper scientific data system on persons with disabilities, the elderly, and the poor, we would only need to update annually. We have been in office for just three to four months; we cannot build everything in that time. The Opposition Leader presented his view with animus.

¶ 03 We have long spoken—since 1947—about ending rural and urban poverty and empowering society: from rice rations before 1947, to food stamps after, then Janasaviya, then Samurdhi, and later Aswasuma. The Leader of the Opposition claimed our approach still merely provides relief with no vision beyond. But our Ministry, together with its officers, has already prepared a 2025–2029 community empowerment program targeting two million families. Circulars have been issued and officers briefed, including Samurdhi officers, on identification, selection, and family development plans. We are implementing a plan to build economically and socially strong families.

¶ 04 While many statistics and programs are cited on poverty, the solution is not easy. We must support and protect the elderly—around 2.7 million. Persons with disabilities number about 1,160,000. There are about 2.7 million in informal employment, and 152,979 addicted to drugs. About 800,000 suffer mental health issues. Some 25,500 families have members in prison and need empowerment. In total, over 7,539,000 people across these categories need support. These figures are drawn from registries such as the Registrar General (for elderly) and other sectoral data. We have a process to empower them economically. Through this, around 2 million families can be empowered.

¶ 05 In 2008, 1.2 million received Janasaviya/Samurdhi; by 2010, 1,570,000; and by 2024 about 1,790,000. Monthly we spend around Rs. 12,000 million on Aswasuma. We also give support to our elderly population exceeding 800,000. A massive fiscal allocation is used to sustain poor families. We must shift from dependency to empowerment, and this new Government has prepared a major program to do so.

¶ 06 In remote villages there are strong economic sources. Historically, aid was given as goats, cattle, chicken, roofing sheets, or even fishing crafts—often politicized. That approach is inadequate. Every citizen must be guided to rise through their own capability. Our Ministry has about 25,140 staff against a need of 28,771, including 17,624 Samurdhi Development Officers and 2,094 Samurdhi Managers. The political authority and the state officers are tasked with empowering two million families—no small duty. We will visit communities, discuss with families, identify local economic bases, introduce self-employment or employment for youth according to aptitude, and uplift families educationally, socially, and culturally. Our responsibility is to make budgetary allocations a ground reality, not just lines in a book.

¶ 07 We are ready to serve to alleviate suffering and empower all our people. Thank you.