• PM says aim is to give these lands to the younger generation

 Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena instructed the Divisional Secretaries to collect information on uncultivated lands owned by all government institutions and plantation companies in the 12,000 Grama Niladhari divisions. 

“There are 12,000 Grama Niladhari divisions all over the country. In these divisions, there are a large number of uncultivated lands owned by government institutions, corporations, boards as well as plantation companies. In order to overcome the economic crisis that we are facing as a country, the President advised us to take the necessary steps to cultivate all the cultivable lands. 

Accordingly, information regarding uncultivated lands that are cultivable within all Gramama Niladhari divisions across Sri Lanka should be collected urgently. This responsibility is given to all Divisional Secretaries, who should make arrangements to collect all relevant information promptly through Grama Niladhari. Our aim is to give these lands to the younger generation, who can cultivate them for a period of around 2 years in order to provide a quick solution to this food crisis,” said Prime Minister Gunawardena, while attending the opening of the Shilpa Yovun Yathra Computer Resource Center, implemented in the Kosgama area by the Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha.
This computer resource centre was created by the Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha by modernizing the village council building, which was opened in 1956 by the then Prime Minister, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Philip Gunawardena. 

The Prime Minister, further, said, “We have taken all the necessary steps to commence the Rural Economic Revitalization Committee programme with a view to controlling the increase in food commodity prices in the country. The programme will commence in the Galoya area under the auspices of the President. By implementing this, we, as a government, expect to formalize and accelerate the upliftment of the rural economy. The five public officers representing the village are responsible for achieving these goals. All of your commitment as public officers is extremely important in all these activities. Also, the local government institutions have a greater capacity to empower the rural economy. As the institution that is closest to the people and as public representatives close to the people, you need to understand and act on the voice of all the people. We are taking every possible step as a government to strengthen these institutions. Today, this step taken by Seethawaka Predeshiya Sabha to promote computer education of youth in the area is commendable. We know that there is still a large group of young people in our country who do not have basic computer education. However, in a country like India, the youth are not only mostly involved with information technology but also have joined the globe and become huge income earners. I believe we should also reach that level. For that, information technology as well as English language knowledge should be given to our children. I see the step taken by Seethawaka Predeshiya Sabha today as a great support for that. I expect to further provide the resources needed to improve the computer literacy of the children in the area. Through the development of this sector, the country will be able to earn a large amount of foreign exchange, and it will also reduce the pressure on the government in terms of providing jobs,” he said.