The Hon. (Dr.) (Ms.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education
The Prime Minister, responding to Hon. T.K. Jayasundara, outlined the sectors supported by the President’s Fund under Act No. 7 of 1978, including poverty alleviation, education, religion, national service grants, and public welfare, with assistance such as medical aid, scholarships, and self-employment support. She provided annual beneficiary and expenditure figures for 2015–2024, noting the Fund’s main income sources are dividends and interest from the Development Lotteries Board. She stated that the Government plans to simplify access by enabling applications and payments through all 341 Divisional Secretariats, supported by officer training and a new online IT system for verification and approval.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, replies to the question by the Hon. T.K. Jayasundara are as follows:
¶ 02 i. Sectors covered by the President’s Fund: 1. Alleviation of poverty. 2. Advancement of education and knowledge. 3. Contributions toward the promotion of religion. 4. Grants to persons who have rendered service to the nation. 5. Activities for the welfare of the public as determined by His Excellency the President and the Board of Trustees.
¶ 03 Within these, assistance is provided, inter alia, for medical aid; scholarships for children of low-income families; and support for self-employment for low-income earners.
¶ 04 ii. Principal sources of income are dividends and interest income received from the Development Lotteries Board.
¶ 05 iii. Beneficiary numbers and annual expenditure from 2015 to 2024 are as follows: - 2015: 23,540 beneficiaries; Rs. 1,789,881,908 - 2016: 20,513 beneficiaries; Rs. 2,205,693,735 - 2017: 24,194 beneficiaries; Rs. 1,639,020,134 - 2018: 18,084 beneficiaries; Rs. 2,181,703,513 - 2019: 22,707 beneficiaries; Rs. 2,351,842,672 - 2020: 9,831 beneficiaries; Rs. 1,899,639,017 - 2021: 3,658 beneficiaries; Rs. 1,403,538,444 - 2022: 3,194 beneficiaries; Rs. 2,688,888,543 - 2023: 5,340 beneficiaries; Rs. 2,587,805,110 - 2024: 92,109 beneficiaries; Rs. 4,807,305,399
¶ 06 iv. The current procedure is that, upon public applications, programmes are implemented in accordance with the provisions of Act No. 7 of 1978, based on decisions of the Board of Trustees chaired by His Excellency the President.
¶ 07 v. The Government intends to simplify the process and enable applications and disbursements at Divisional Secretariat level. We are preparing to: - Expand receipt of applications across all 341 Divisional Secretariat Divisions; - Facilitate payments through the respective Divisional Secretariats; - Provide basic training to relevant officers at Divisional Secretariats; - Introduce a new IT system for online applications, routing them to the Head Office for verification and submission for the President’s approval; once approved, payments will be made via the relevant Divisional Secretariat.
¶ 08 Thank you.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 ·No. 1739175806099814 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) (Ms.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 February 2025. No. 1739175806099814. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/26729