“Discussion with the Village” in Nuwara Eliya on Saturday (20)

Colombo (News 1st); The 15th edition of “Discussion with the Village” programme will be presided over by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday (20) in the Yombuweltenna village in Walapane Divisional Secretariat Division of the Nuwara Eliya District.

The People’s representatives including the Ministers and MPs of the District, Secretaries to Ministries, Heads of various institutions and officials will be participating in this public forum which will begin at 10.00 am. The ultimate goal of the “Discussion with the Village” programme is for President to go grass roots, with the officials, to witness himself the difficulties suffered by fellow citizens first hand, in order to uplift the rural sector, said the President's Media Division. The rural folk, which constitutes about 75% of the population of Sri Lanka, still suffering from a wide variety of problems including economic and social issues, it noted adding that landlessness, absence of proper title deeds, shortage of water for drinking and cultivation purposes, underdeveloped status of roads and transport issues, health and education issues, the human-elephant conflict,  bureaucratic lethargy  are a few of the major issues affecting them. The objective of the programme is to reach out to the people of the villages, understand their problems and find solutions through their own suggestions. Problems that can be solved on the spot are instantly addressed. The rest which take time to deal with are noted down to find solutions later, it added. The “Discussion with the Village” programme commenced on September 25, 2020 from Badulla District. Thereafter programmes were organized covering Matale, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Kalutara, Moneragala, Kegalle, Kandy, Puttalam, Trincomalee, Kurunegala and Galle districts. The Yombuweltenna Grama Niladhari Division, which has been selected for tomorrow’s “Discussion with the Village”, programme is located 13 km away from the Walapane town.