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| Sunday, 24 November 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Funds from 'Navodha Lanka' to benefit the poor by Arundathie Abeysinghe About Rs. 2.5 million collected from "Navodha Lanka" industrial exhibition and carnival held at Polonnaruwa recently, was distributed among the poor for their medical expenses.
A majority of low income families in Sri Lanka do not have the means for urgent medical care as many are daily paid workers. The situation is worse in rural Sri Lanka where a large number of people cannot afford the cost of private medical care, wait instead for long periods in government hospitals for life saving surgeries. "Navodha Lanka" the exhibition held at Royal College Grounds, Polonnaruwa from October 23-27 with the objective of helping the to attend to their medical expenses. The event was organised by the Association of Ministers' Secretaries with the participation of 62 ministries and "Yuga Mehewara" Secretariat. According to Sudath Chandrasekera Private Secretary to the Prime Minister and President of the Ministers' Secretaries Association the exhibition was organised with twin objectives of helping down-trodden people in the country and educating the public about the services rendered by each Ministry. "This event was a combination of legal aid campaigns, community programmes and educational programmes on information technology and health." he said adding that the exhibition also included many entertainment activities including musical shows, firework displays, lottery draws, amusement parks and food stalls," he said. explaining that the participants were mainly from border villages he said that the exhibition had given the people of the area an opportunity to entertain themselves after a long time (because of the war). The exhibition held from 3.00 p.m. - 4.30 a.m. daily, comprised 180 stalls with about 30,000 people attending each day. "Navodha Lanka" industrial exhibition and carnival will also be held from December 21-31 this year at Parliament grounds. |
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