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8 committees to resolve land issues island wide
The President assured immediate solutions to land, housing, health, irrigation, and agriculture-related issues in the Northern Province.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that eight (08) committees would be appointed at the provincial level to resolve land-related issues in the North and South of the country would be resolved accordingly.
President Wickremesinghe made these observations while participating in the District Development Committee meeting held at the Vavuniya District Secretariat this morning (19).
The development committee meeting was called covering Vavuniya, Mannar, and Mullaitivu districts in the Northern Province.
The issues related to the lands, housing, health, irrigation, and agriculture in the province and solutions for them were discussed at length during the meeting.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe assured that all measures would be taken to improve the living conditions of the people by providing prompt solutions to the problems arising in various fields in the Northern Province and said that he expected the supportive hands of the parliamentarians of the Northern Province in this endeavor.
Pointing out that there are many unsolved problems in the North, the President further assured that he would resolve those issues by way of discussions with all parties.
Parliamentarian Charles Nirmalanathan drew the attention of the President to the fact that the Tamil people who settled in the Settikulam area in 1994 have still not been provided with land.
The President instructed the Vavuniya District Secretary to intervene to resolve the land issue in Settikulam within 03 months and added that he would inquire about the matter from the Ministry of Justice as well as the Ministry of Lands.
At the meeting, attention was also drawn to the problems arising due to the acquisition of certain farmlands in the Mullaitivu district by the Department of Archaeology.Special attention was focused on the housing problem of the people in the Northern Province and the officials pointed out that the housing projects initiated to address the issue in the three districts have reached different stages of construction and an additional sum of Rs. 3000 million is required for its completion.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe pointed out that many housing projects have commenced across the island and he expected to provide quick solutions to the housing problem of the people in the North.
Parliamentarian Selvam Adekkalanathan highlighted the plight and the needs of the people living in the vicinity of Vavuniya Lake and Thirikkulam Lake and drew the attention of the President at the meeting.
The renovation of the tanks in the districts, solving the fertilizer problem, and streamlining the distribution activities also was the focal point at the meeting.
The President instructed the officials to take measures to provide the necessary solutions to the health sector-related problems and the shortage of doctors in the Northern Province paying special attention to them when the issues were raised during the meeting.
Parliamentarian Rishad Bathuideen explained various irregularities that the fishermen in the Mannar district have to face in the supply of kerosene oil and the President instructed the officials to initiate an urgent inquiry into the matter.
Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, Urban Development, and Housing State Minister Tenuka Vidanagamage, State Minister for Rural Development Kader Mastan, Northern Province Governor Jeevan Thiagarajah, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake and public officials including district secretaries were present on the occasion.
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First capacity-building program under NCGG – SLIDA MoU concludes successfully
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for Good Governance of India (NCGG) and Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) was signed during the State Visit of President of Sri Lanka, H.E. Anura Kumara Disanayaka to India in December 2024 for training and capacity building of 1500 Sri Lankan civil service officers over a period of five years.
The first program under the MoU was successfully held at NCGG from 21 April to 02 May 2025, and was attended by 41 officers. Based on the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, the theme of the program was ‘digitization in governance’. The program featured a series of sessions focused on key areas such as digital service delivery, digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion through digital payments, and innovations in public grievance redressal systems. Senior officials and domain experts delivered presentations on flagship Indian initiatives in the digital domain, including Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, e-Office, GeM, Aadhaar, PM Gati Shakti, among others.
At an interaction session with participants in the inaugural program organized on 08 May 2025 at SLIDA, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, H.E. Santosh Jha underscored that capacity building is an important pillar of the development cooperation between the two countries, with Sri Lanka being among the largest recipients of scholarships and capacity building initiatives offered by India. He highlighted that, demonstrating India’s continued commitment to enhancing capacity-building opportunities for Sri Lankans, Prime Minister of India had announced additional training avenues to 700 Sri Lankan citizens annually during his recent State visit. In that context, the High Commissioner said that the participants in the first NCGG-SLIDA programme also represented the first set of Sri Lankan nationals to receive training as part of the significantly enhanced capacity-building endeavour of India that will now benefit 1000 Sri Lankans annually.
The interaction session was also attended by Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Mr S. Aloka Bandara; Director General of SLIDA, Mr A.V. Janadara; senior officials and faculty members of SLIDA; among others.
In view of the highly positive feedback from the participants in the inaugural NCGG-SLIDA program, based on request from SLIDA, a second program on the same theme under the MoU is now being planned for another batch of around 40 officers for early June 2025.
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First capacity-building program under NCGG – SLIDA MoU concludes successfully
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