The Hon. (Dr.) Namal Sudarshana - Deputy Minister of Women and Child Affairs

¶ 01 Madam Presiding Member, thank you for the time. It is apt that the debate on our Ministry’s Head occurs on Women’s Day. Our Ministry marked Women’s Week from the 2nd to the 8th under the themes “A Sustainable Future for Her Enterprise,” “An Efficient Labour Resource – A Dignified Profession,” and “Healthy Women – Strength of the Nation,” with programmes from national to divisional levels.

¶ 02 We take pride that our Leader of the House spoke strongly on women’s strength and that this Parliament now has the strongest women’s representation in history, brought by the National People’s Power.

¶ 03 Given time, I will focus on children. Early Childhood Development (ECD)—from conception to age five—has lacked historic attention. About 80 percent of brain development occurs in this period. Sri Lanka has over 17,000 ECD centres/preschools: roughly 11,000 private, 4,000 linked to local authorities, and 1,000 run by religious bodies; about 11,000 are registered.

¶ 04 On the Opposition Leader’s query about preschool breakfast: previously Rs. 60 was allocated per child; we have increased it to Rs. 100. Selection is not only for state-linked preschools; it is based on identifying centres with undernourished children through MOH offices. This year’s Budget provides for about 150,000 children in 6,545 preschools.

¶ 05 Preschool teacher allowances: previously Rs. 5,000; from June, we propose to increase to Rs. 6,000. On maternal nutrition affecting child development, we have allocated about Rs. 7,500 million to provide nutritious meals to around 200,000 pregnant mothers, and Rs. 5,000 million for the Thriposha programme.

¶ 06 We have set aside about Rs. 1,000 million for preschool breakfasts and Rs. 950 million under “Guru Abhimani” for teachers who sacrifice under difficult conditions.

¶ 07 Under the Department of Probation and Child Care Services, there are 379 institutions (certified schools, remand homes, children’s homes), of which about 47 are under Government regulation and the rest by private/religious bodies; many face deficits in physical and human resources. We have allocated Rs. 500 million to improve capacity.

¶ 08 A persistent issue is transporting children in custody to courts alongside adult detainees, sometimes using officers’ private vehicles. We have allocated Rs. 250 million to purchase vehicles for safe transport across provinces.

¶ 09 For children in institutions without guardians, we will provide Rs. 5,000 per month: Rs. 2,000 deposited in the child’s account and Rs. 3,000 to the lawful guardian—budgeted at about Rs. 1,000 million. We will also ensure seamless school admissions (Grade 1) for institutionalized children to the nearest national/provincial school, and fund vocational training so that youth leaving institutions attain at least NVQ Level 3/4 skills.

¶ 10 For autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders—long neglected—we will establish a model treatment centre first at Lady Ridgeway Hospital, with Rs. 200 million allocated, and expand to centres in all 25 districts over five years, alongside a model day-care support centre.

¶ 11 On preventing violence and empowering women and children, our Ministry has a grassroots organizational mechanism through Women Development Officers and assistants to mobilize village-level women’s groups, build capacities, and run training. We will strengthen this network with support from local and international partners, and through Clean Sri Lanka programmes drive ethical social attitudinal change.

¶ 12 Public awareness: our Ministry runs toll-free counselling lines—1929 for children’s issues and 1938 for women’s issues. Many do not know these; we will scale up awareness.

¶ 13 On this International Women’s Day, our aim as a Government is to combine all strength and courage to build a world for women and children that is equal, free of violence, and full of love.

¶ 14 “Let us give light so tender buds may bloom with fragrance, Be the oar so one boat may cross the seas, Be the smile that soothes the darkest wounds, Give love to the world to build a new world.”

¶ 15 Thank you.