Premier at inter-religious meeting:

Promoting religion for a crime-free society

by L.S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

A national program of spiritual development and development of all religious centres has been launched by Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratna. The Prime Minister said the main objective of the program is to create a crime-free Sri Lankan society based on deep rooted religious teachings and ethics.

"Crimes such as rape, child abuse, murder and drug addiction have increased sharply. We should combat this social evil by upholding spiritual values and changing life patterns", the Prime Minister said.The great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi propagated the concept of "Brahma Society" for spiritual upliftment. Similarly, under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, we have launched a program to develop all Buddhist, Christian and Hindu religious institutions, he said. "The leadership and the active participation of the clergy is vital for the success of this program", Prime Minister said.

Under this program Rs.100,000 each will be provided for Buddhist, Christian and Hindu religious centres islandwide.

Priority will be given to religious centres in rural areas and the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The new program is being implemented by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs in collaboration with the Prime Minister's office. Another program to pay tribute to the parents of Bhikkhus, "Budu Puth Mapiya Upahara" was also launched by the Prime Minister, last week.