The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees. I welcome the Motion by Hon. Danushka Ranganath on youth, and thank him.

¶ 02 I wish to raise concerns. Since 18.08.1985, when our conflict escalated, for almost 40 years Tamil, Sinhala, and Muslim youth have lost their futures.

¶ 03 In 2019, during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure, 16,800 graduates nationwide, including from the North and East, were appointed as Development Officers. We all know these were political appointments. I do not blame only your Government. In 2022, many were converted to teacher appointments; they have worked as teachers in schools from 2021-2025. The current President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, while in this very Chair, said youth futures should not be destroyed and that due to teacher shortages, Development Officer appointments should be converted to teacher appointments. Now we hear they will be reverted to Development Officers and even removed from service. This is unacceptable.

¶ 04 Regarding fingerprint systems for postal staff: I agree a biometric attendance system is needed, but will you implement it across the board—including doctors, staff, and Parliament officials? Many of us do overtime while also doing private practice. If you have the backbone, bring a Bill to implement fingerprint systems uniformly; with 159 Members on your side, pass it.

¶ 05 In Sinhala, I say this: those appointed as teachers through exams after being Development Officers and who have served five years are now to be reverted to Development Officers. I challenge any Government Member here to explain what Payoneer and PayPal are, or at least what ExiPay is. How do we bring online payments to Sri Lanka? I have been exporting since 2017, but we cannot receive money properly—PayPal is closed to Sri Lanka; Payoneer accounts get blocked. Then how will our youth export goods online? Many create accounts using other countries like the Philippines to route payments. Why cannot we fix this? When we raise it, we are told our claims are false. Under the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act, lying in this House is punishable—so do not dismiss us.

¶ 06 Protests and hartals should not be for political show. If there are issues, we should speak here, not paralyse the country. We had faith in this Government and urged people in Jaffna to vote for you. Do not betray those promises.

¶ 07 Thank you.