Hon. Ashoka Gunasena
Hon. Ashoka Gunasena rejected Opposition claims that the Budget is not people-centred, arguing that allocations related to SriLankan Airlines concern the protection of a public asset. He said proposals such as school-based autism screening are already reflected in the Budget, and cited this as evidence that it addresses public needs while also acknowledging other constructive suggestions raised in the debate.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity.
¶ 02 Some in the Opposition labelled this a non-people’s Budget, citing SriLankan Airlines expenditure. It seemed they were likening it to past “Mig deal” scandals. But they forget SriLankan is a public asset; safeguarding it is part of the Budget’s intent. Calling this anti-people on that basis is wrong.
¶ 03 One Opposition Member proposed screening for autism within schools. A strength of this Budget is that such themes are explicitly addressed—evidence of its people-centric nature. Several other constructive ideas were also raised.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 6 March 2025 ·No. 1742798688089503 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Hon. Ashoka Gunasena. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 March 2025. No. 1742798688089503. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/25486