Progress of Mahinda Chinthana in plantations:

Project to reduce alcohol consumption

Ministry of Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication Media Secretary, H. H. Wickremasinghe said in a press release, on the progress of the Mahinda Chinthana - 10 year plan under the ministry:

'The Ministry of Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication formulated its Development Plan for the year 2008, based on the Mahinda Chinthana 10-year Plan.

'The Development Plan for 2007 comprised 4 main components under which to implement the policy of 'A New Life for the Plantation Community' in the Mahinda Chinthana - 10 Year Plan which is guided by the Vision of Towards a New Sri Lanka'.

'Those components are: Social Development, Economic and Livelihood Development, Provision of Basic Community Amenities, Research.

Human Resources Development

Since the plantation community has been identified as a disadvantaged low-income community relative to other communities, the development programmes of this Ministry were implemented targeting the plantation community, under the above 4 components.

'In this context, development projects aimed at eradication of the inequities observed, relative to the other communities, in the following areas referred to in the Mahinda Chinthana:

* Education: - Upgrading of Day-care and Early Childhood Development Centres - Building of new Day-care and Early Childhood Development Centres and repairing of such centres where necessary, and where they had received the least attention, were carried out. Projects have been implemented in 4 such centres.

'Library Development Programmes in Schools - This entails provision of reading books and computers for school libraries with inadequate facilities. 342 books for 5 libraries have been already provided, and steps have been taken to provide 20 computers.

This will be distributed in November, 2007. Projects also have been implemented to construct 5 libraries in estates without library facilities.

'As passes in the subject of English at the GCE (A/Level) are at a low level in the plantation schools, a programme was conducted to enhance the knowledge of English and teaching methods of 200 English teachers of the plantation schools.

'This training was conducted in such a way as to develop these teachers as trainers. This programme was conducted in the Districts of Badulla, Ratnapura and Nuwara-Eliya.

'A programme to prepare the Tamil medium GCE (A/Level) students for the examination was conducted with the assistance of the Ministry of Education, of the Central Province. 50 revision sessions for 2000 students of low-income families were conducted under this programme.

* Employment and Vocational Education

Heavy vehicle driving is an area with ample employment opportunities. Accordingly, unemployed plantation youth were provided with training under the certificate of the Sri Lanka Transport Board and licences issued.

60 youth from the Nuwara Eliya District were accorded this opportunity.

'Entrepreneurship training courses were conducted for development of skills of the youth. 110 youth from the Nuwara Eliya District were exposed to practical knowledge required for initiating into the course of self-employment training. Facilities for securing small loans also were provided to them enabling to start small scale projects.

* Health

'All arrangements have been made to conduct a medical clinic targeting 500 women of 30 estates in the Agarapathana, Talawakelle and Lindula area. Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Cancer, Poor Eyesight, Thyroid and General Women's Diseases are expected to be treated here, this programme is to be held in collaboration with the Dept. of Health.

Housing and Basic Amenities

* Water supply and sanitation

21 small scale Drinking Water Projects have been implemented. 2 projects for repairing dilapidated drains and kerbs of line rooms have been implemented.

'Development of Infrastructure Facilities

* Roads and Electricity

The approach roads, steps and footpaths to the line rooms of the plantation community are in a decrepit state, and repairs were effected to them. This involved 92 inner estate road projects and 122 projects on approach roads to households (footsteps and footpaths).

Electricity has been provided to line rooms and Hindu Kovils. 23 projects on this activity were implemented. Action is being taken to supply 10 generators to Cultural Centres for provision of electricity.

'Community Development

* Religious and Cultural Activities

Cultural Societies requisite to develop cultural activities of the plantation community and preserve the traditional forms of dance and for training have been established.

Accordingly, 24 projects involving Community Halls, Cultural Centres and Hindu Kovils were implemented. Hindu Kovils worshipped by the devoted populace at present, have been repaired.

* Sports

24 projects on constructing playgrounds for providing opportunities to the plantation youth showing sports skills have been implemented. Arrangements also have been made to make sports equipment available to the sports clubs patronised by persons with skills 50 sets of equipment will be provided.

* Community Development

It has been noted that the plantation community outdoes the other communities in consumption of alcohol. Social problems such as interruption of children's education, nutritional deficiencies, and brawls have sprung up as a result of squandering the total earnings on alcohol by the workers.

'In order to minimise such social evils, a one year project on Alcohol Reduction has been implemented. The project will continue till April, 2008. 4 selected plantations as indicated below, come under this:

Stellenberg Plantation - Kandy District

Balangoda Plantation - Ratnapura District

Velioya Plantation

Brunswick Plantation - Nuwara Eliya District

Provision of Community Hall Facilities required for community activities

This entailed consturction of new Community Halls and repairs to existing Community Halls. 5,000 chairs needed for use in holding meetings utilising the hall facilities, and 100 mobile tents for use in weddings and funerals have been provided to the Community Organisations.

* Basic Human Rights

Absence of National Identity Cards is a social problem that remains unsolved among the plantation community.

In view of this, Mobile Service Programmes for issuing National Identity Cards were conducted in 50 estates in the Nuwara Eliya District, in collaboration with the Dept. of Registration of Persons. 1000 National Identity Cards were issued to plantation population through this programme.

Arrangements have been made to conduct a survey on the estate community who are without the National Identity Card and the Birth Certificate, in all the plantations in the Districts of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya, by this Ministry in collaboration with the Dept of Registration of Persons, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights and the Dept. of Commissioner of Elections.

The Survey will involve the Grama Niladaris of those Districts and will terminate in November 2007.

This survey seeks to achieve the following targets:

* Identification of persons without National Identity Cards and disclosing reasons for failure to obtain them

* Identification of Persons whose names are left out in the electoral registers

'The Action Plan for 2008 has been designed to implement all these development programmes and the projects there-under, with qualitative and quantitative enrichment'.