The Hon. Eranga Gunasekara - Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs

¶ 01 [5.39 p.m.]

¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, several issues have been raised; I will try to manage within five minutes.

¶ 03 Some in the Opposition use any chance to vent, sometimes even “breaking glass” metaphorically. Let them. But the Member from the East should also acknowledge how we are working. There is no division among Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher, or Malay in our approach.

¶ 04 Regarding the youth event location: it was at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, not Maharagama. After 32 years, youth representatives have been duly appointed through the Grama Niladhari Division, Divisional Secretariat, District Secretariat, up to the National Council—comprising Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim youth. They have responsibilities, and we carry no bias in assigning them. I sense some Members raise language or ethnic issues to gain advantage. Recent hartals in the North and East also seemed aimed at electioneering for provincial leaderships.

¶ 05 We are uniting all communities to rebuild the country. Over 300,000 youth from all communities have joined and taken up responsibilities. Please review the data and be encouraged.

¶ 06 On our programme: the NPP Government presented a Youth Charter covering ten thematic areas, but we realized a Charter alone is insufficient. Together with the UN and our Ministry, we are devising an action plan, drawing on good elements from prior charters, to build a national framework for the Sri Lankan youth—not segmented by ethnicity. Guidance and programming will roll out, and from next year we will implement.

¶ 07 Two institutions serve youth: the National Youth Services Council and the National Youth Corps. We are engaging rural youth through these. We recently brought the newly appointed youth leaders from village to national levels to Parliament and honoured them. We will link youth at GN and Divisional levels with Local Authorities and Development Committees, bringing their proposals into local and district development processes.

¶ 08 Next year, we aim to establish a Youth Parliament covering all 25 districts, modernized and aligned with the 24 ministries, with each youth minister pairing with a line ministry. The Speaker and the Prime Minister have agreed in principle. We will assign responsibilities and opportunities accordingly.

¶ 09 On Development Officers and teacher appointments: past political appointments ignored functions and job design. We are reviewing this. Court cases have been cleared, and we are working to resolve teacher service issues and related concerns systematically. Youth are the nation’s future; let us all work together to empower them to build a prosperous Sri Lanka.

¶ 10 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees.

¶ 11 It being past 5.30 p.m., THE HON. DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES adjourned Parliament without Question put.

¶ 12 Parliament adjourned accordingly at 5.46 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 20th August, 2025.