Govt. allocates Rs. 25,565mn for ‘Gamperaliya Programme’

A total sum of Rs. 25,565.2 million has been allocated for the Gam Peraliya Programme as of May 2019, Secretary to the Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs. Mr. V. Sivagnanasothy said recently.

According to Mr. Sivagnanasothy the allocation approved for each district is as follows; Colombo District Rs. 3,363.2 Mn, Kandy District Rs.3,058.2 Mn, Kurunegala District Rs.3,049.4 Mn, Gampaha District Rs.2,870 Mn, Galle District Rs. 2,252.1 Mn, Jaffna District Rs. 2,224.8 Mn, Badulla District Rs. 1,987.2 Mn, Ratnapura District Rs. 1,937.5 Mn, Kalutara District Rs. 1,732.4 Mn, Kegalle District Rs. 1,719.2 Mn, Anuradhapura Rs. 1,586.6 Mn, Ampara District Rs. 1,531.1 Mn,nuwara-eliya District Rs. 1,516.4 Mn,matara District Rs. 1,509.8 Mn, Trincomalee District Rs. 1,122.3 Mn, Puttalam District Rs. 1,048.8 Mn, Batticaloa District Rs. 955.4 Mn, Hambantota District Rs. 799.8 Mn, Matale District Rs.806.7 Mn, Monaragala District Rs. 698.3 Mn, Polonnaruwa District Rs. 617.4 Mn, Mannar District Rs. 425.4 Mn, Mullaitivu District Rs. 283.7 Mn, Vavuniya District Rs.268.6 Mn, Kilinochchi District Rs. 199.6 Mn respectively. Further, a total of Rs. 3,402 Mn has been allocated for the most deprived Northern Province Districts including Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, and Mannar which focuses mainly on rehabilitation of rural roads, tanks and anicuts, and rehabilitation of places of religious worship etc.

“Some of the 12 focus areas for rural development covered under this programme have been identified in a holistic basis namely establishment of links between rural and urban areas and market centres through rural roads, development of agriculture sector through renovation of tanks and anicuts; bridges and creating connectivity; improving the education sector in the rural economy by supporting water supply and essential sanitation facilities to schools; construction of playgrounds and physical culture infrastructure facilities related to education sector; establishing spiritual development for villages through rehabilitation of religious places of worship; establishing rural markets known as “Sathipola”; and other related infrastructure facilities are some of the 12 focus areas covered under this programme Mr. V. Sivagnanasothy said.

The Gamperaliya Programme has been launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with the goal of re-awakening the economy of the rural villages by transforming the villages as economic hubs and to subsequently develop the national economy. Further, economic growth is reckoned as the most powerful instrument for reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of the rural communities. Therefore, the Gamperaliya programme which is also known as Rapid Rural Development Programme (RRDP) is aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to ensure sustained growth to make faster progress towards the development of the national economy islandwide as the growth can generate prosperity and opportunity to the rural masses.

As per the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) report of year 2018, the Western Province has contributed 37.2% to the GDP whereas the other Provinces that contributed the least to the GDP were namely, Northern Province with 4.5%, Eastern Province with 5.7%, Northcentral with 5.6%, and Uva Province with 7.9% respectively. The existing lacuna among the Provinces’ contribution portrays the inequality in contribution made to the GDP by these Provinces. It is also noted that the Provinces that contributed the least to the GDP had also recorded high Poverty Incidence Headcount Index in year 2017.