Budget – Committee stage 16th Day

Votes of the Ministry of Samurdhi, Youth Affairs and Sports

"UNP has changed their tune about Samurdhi animators"

(Continued from Saturday)

T. B. Ekanayaka (PA, Kurunegala): Rural Savings have shown a marked improvement after the implementation of over thousand Samurdhi Banks at village level.

Samurdhi projects, amounting to 200 million, have been allocated to develop villages with the people's participation. Rural youth have been given an opportunity to come up and participate in their village development programme.

The UNP has changed their tune about the Samurdhi animators. When we appointed Samurdhi-Govi animators, they said these were political appointments. Now its a long wait over their plight.

S. Selvaraja (TULF, Batticaloa): There is growing frustration among unemployed Tamil youth and these youth don't have equal opportunities as their Sinhala counterparts in training and acquiring skills in training centres that conduct their courses in Sinhala.

Appoint Samurdhi officers to our areas. The Samurdhi recipients in our area receive only Rs. 250.

The government should not forget that the overwhelming victory of the President was due to the Tamil votes.

The work on the Tamil Training Centre should be stepped up for the sake of unemployed Tamil youth.

Vajira Abeywardana (UNP, Galle district): The government had a good understanding of the needs of the youth before they came to power as was stated in their election manifesto. You have failed to lay the basic foundation to carry out these pledges so far.

The financial framework to fulfil these promises, including an allowance for unemployed youth till find employment, have not come to light. Although your ministry is one cog in the wheel, it has the capability to mobilise institutions like the national Youth Services Council to solve the problems of the Youth as we did by implementing several projects before 1994.

Hope for Samurdhi animators lies in the UNP. We can protect people we give employment to.

Has the Ministry considered the effects of the war on the younger generation of the country. I hope the Ministry would at least pressurise the finance Ministry to implement programmes to suit the needs of the youth in the next century.

C. B. Ratnayaka (PA, Nuwara Eliya): Over one thousand lakhs of rupees have been given away by Samurdhi banks to harness the talents of the youth. The Samurdhi banks have transformed the villages opening out many opportunities for the youth.

Why does the UNP view the war as generating employment? They also express fears that once the war is over thousands will be jobless. Have they forgotten the billions of National resources that will be saved.

Y. Balachandran (DPLF, Wanni district): An adequate number of Samurdhi animators should be appointed in our areas. Appoint at least 2 animators to every Divisional Secretariat area.

After the implementation of the Samurdhi welfare programme, some who were receiving food stamps under the previous scheme are not receiving samurdhi relief.

Sports facilities in Vavunia are inadequate. Please increase your allocation to this area to develop its sports facilities. The Minister should not forget the disabled youth in these area as well.

In Mannar, no youth service officers have been appointed.

S. Sathasivam (CWC, Nuwara Eliya): This ministry is fortunate to have the services of such a high-speed Minister and two equally fast deputy ministers.

The root cause of the problems of this country lies in its youth. The ministry should identify the problems that afflict especially the youth in the up country areas which suffers from record high levels of unemployment and malnutrition. The NYSC has the capability to solve these problems, this I must emphasise.

Yooses Peiris (PA, Puttalam Dist.): The ministry has worked out a systematic series of projects to help the youth to reach their true potential. The Opposition talks as if this ministry is like Aladdin's magic lamp.

Development is evident at village level. Under the Samurdhi programme, village infrastructure has been developed.

The Samurdhi programme has increased rural savings. This programme has made people, who never saved, deposit money in Samurdhi banks. These banks have enabled poor people to obtain loans conveniently. The ministry has made significant improvements to alleviate their sufferings to some degree.

Sarath Kongahage (UNP): The architect of the poverty alleviation programme was former President Premadasa. We are glad that this government is continuing the programmes initiated by us on a different label, although the work is not up to that level. Even the word samurdhi is taken from President Premadasa but we must keep in mind that poverty does not have a colour.

On human rights day, group of Samurdhi animators were attacked and according to reports the telecast of Gangodawila Soma Thera's sermons have been banned.

Cricket has fallen into doldrums. Arjuna Ranatunga's leadership has overtaken President JR's.

Jeevan Kumaratunga (Deputy Minister of Samurdhi, Youth Affairs & Sports): Although the UNP cannot comprehend the difference between Samurdhi and Janasaviya, the people have clearly experienced the difference. The Samurdhi recipients become financially independent and receive the services of Samurdhi banks to save a part of their income.

The Samurdhi programme has involved the community in organising their social security for their benefit.

The ministry is devoted in the task of harnessing the protential of the youth through programmes like the "Tharunu Shakthi". The North-South bridge project also deserve special mention as another programme by NYSC to help the youth of this country.

Sarath Ranawaka (UNP, Kalutara Dist.): The five budgets that the Government has so far presented have not made any proposals to make use of the resources of the country. Instead, every budget has brought the common man to doom.

What relief have you given to the farmer? Nothing.

You give great emphasis to self-employment. What do you mean by self-employment? Simply it means, tea boutiques and grocery shops. How can you develop the country by opening so many shops.

I want to say something about the Youth Service Council too.

The Auditor General has pointed out serious breaches of Financial Regulations by the youth Service Council. These relate to breaches of Tender procedures.

I would like to know how a sum of Rs. 8 million belonging to the Youth Service Council was withdrawn from the People's Bank and deposited in the Seylan Bank in Boralesgamuwa.

Reginald Cooray, Deputy Minister of Samurdhi: The UNP's Janasaviya failed to eradicate poverty. President Premadasa hoped to eliminate poverty among the recipients of the benefits of Janasaviya in two years. This did not happen.

The Samurdhi Programme, which the UNP says is a carbon copy of Janasaviya is a totally different programme. It is based on a philosophy that goes deep into the causes of poverty and treats the very root of poverty.

Minister S. B. Dissanayake (winding up the debate): We made an attempt to appoint and put the Samurdhi programme in operation in some areas of the North.

But we are not satisfied by the progress of the initial work. In most parts of the country we hope to activate the Samurdhi programme. In some areas, in the North, the Samurdhi assistance is Rs. 250. We must be able to make an assessment before we could put the Samurdhi programme in operation.

Sarath Ranawaka spoke about the Audit report of 1997. But I want to tell you that we could not find a single audit report pertaining to the past 17 years.

I want to tell you that chairman Youth Service Council, Sunil Jayantha Navaratne was a scholar. I have great trust in him. He has joined the council after sacrificing a lot.

I want to also tell the House that every rogue thinks every other person too is a rogue. This is the view of the psychologists. That is the psyche of the rogue.

But I want also to give this promise to the house. I would look into the issues raised in the audit report, quoted by Ranawaka if he could pass those papers to me.

Coming back to poverty and on how to eliminate it, I want to tell the House I am fully convinced that no amount of relief can relieve poverty. Relief will not eliminate poverty, a wee-bit.

Therefore the programmes to end poverty must be so formulated that they treat the roots of the problem. We have learnt a lot from the philosophy of President Premadasa. We have also gathered international experiences in the realm of poverty alleviation. So the Samurdhi is programme which treats the root of the problem.

The vote was passed.