Hon. (Ms.) Krishnan Kalaichelvi

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I thank Hon. Radhakrishnan for moving this Motion under Standing Order 19. I also feel a small regret: those now in Opposition representing the hill country have, over 76 years, also held ministerial office. Examining 200 years of hill country history, our people still live in very difficult conditions.

¶ 02 Hon. Member listed what was done in the past on housing, land, education, health, and administration. The NPP did not assume power to provide separate privileges to various groups, but to ensure a true, free, and beautiful life for all. Hill country people still face many issues—chiefly housing, land, and roads. We are discussing and advancing programmes accordingly.

¶ 03 On education: in Nuwara Eliya District alone, over 500 schools in the hill country lack proper land deeds. A District Development Committee discussed this; under the leadership of Hon. Deputy Minister Sundaralingam Pradeep, a committee has been formed to provide proper land deeds to all such schools. Estate hospitals likewise will be brought under the central Government for proper status and resources.

¶ 04 As stated, though some rights were granted in the past, the core issues remain unresolved. The Motion says the NPP Government has not taken forward the 172-year plantation struggle—implying “they did everything; we did nothing.” Is that the issue? Before coming to power, on 13 October 2023 in Hatton, we issued the ‘Hatton Declaration’ stating hill country people are not outsiders or ‘estate people’ or ‘Indian-origin’, but part of the nation. We recognized “Malaiyagam” as their rightful identity—the NPP Government conferred this dignity.

¶ 05 We will fulfil needs step by step. We already delivered the second key need—wage increase—through the Budget. Beyond Indian housing, our Ministry has commenced construction of 396 of the roughly 10,000 houses we planned to build.

¶ 06 On disaster-affected estates: at Poonagala–Kabaragala and Talawakelle–Wolfrend (Waldried), families have lived for years in camps or with relatives. After the NPP came to power, we allocated land and are building houses with full facilities—54 at Kabaragala nearing completion, and 24 at Wolfrend, now halfway. Our aim is a happy life for hill country people.

¶ 07 We will secure land and home ownership, education and health rights, and a bright future for youth, as set out in the Hatton Declaration and our policy ‘Prosperous Country – Beautiful Life’. Do not work against these; join us to make hill country life beautiful. Thank you.