Govt aims at a healthy nation

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

It was the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ that gave the lead for five years to carry out development while waging a war against terrorism and now its extended version ‘Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dekma’ that directs the government to turn the country into the ‘wonder of Asia’.

Coming from a seasoned politician, who was born to be with the common man and feels the heart beat of the poor more than any other there is no area that the Mahinda Chinthana policy neglects.

Agriculture and livestock is given significant emphasis in the policy, as they are the livewire in achieving self-sufficiency.

“I would call it an agricultural revolution. We would soon achieve self-sufficiency in both sectors”, said the leader who put all his energy and time to develop the country.

Recalling the importance of domesticated livestock in rural areas to improve people’s health and economy, President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurating the International Livestock and Poultry, EXPO 2011 exhibition at the BMICH said the government strived to create a healthy nation which is not indebted to anyone.

“The government was able to achieve significant improvement in the productivity of livestock and agriculture, leading to an improvement in the socio-economic status of the beneficiary families and the country as a whole,” he said.

He said the past culture, where livestock played a major role in the rural economy has changed due to the influence of foreign forces and the country’s development trends too were reversed.

“They forced us to be dependent on imported flour and milk while driving us into debt as a nation. Since 2005 in line with the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ policy vision, we have taken steps to revive these two sectors. We strive to achieve excellence in agriculture and livestock development for national prosperity,” he said.

The President, explaining important steps taken to develop the livestock and poultry industry, said that the government had been able to introduce a stable price of more than Rs.50 per litre of milk to encourage dairy farmers.

“New technology was introduced to improve productivity, 500 fertility farms were established, 1,000 dairy villages too were established, related imports to support the industry were exempted from tax, we provided refrigeration facilities and new breeds,” he said.

The President said the exhibition was useful for farmers to gather information on new and innovative technologies for them to improve production.

Reffering to the large crowds that had gathered, he said that the interest shown by the masses on the exhibition was in itself an indication of the extent of the progress made by the sector in recent years.

He said the development of the sector played a key role in making future generation healthy, intelligent and strong and thereby helping the country’s overall socio-economic growth.

The International Livestock and Poultry Exhibition, which consists of 100 stalls by both local and foreign exhibitors and organised by the Ministry of Livestock and Rural Community Development concluded on Saturday.

The exhibition included a scientific conference, a poster competition, a quiz for students, an integrated model farm, exhibits of varieties of pasture plots, puppet and drama shows.

It also has demonstrations on hand milking, machine milking, producing value added milk products, poultry and swine management, services provided by MLRCD, DAPH, MILCO and NLDB, loan schemes etc.

Meanwhile, Adivasi Nayake, Uruwarige Wanniyalaththo who visited President’s House in Kandy on Tuesday, invited President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Indigenous People’s Day festival which will be celebrated in Vakarai Sallathiv area on July 30 and 31 to mark World Indigenous People’s Day.

Wanniyalaththo has said to the President that all indigenous people throughout the island, belonging to various groups would be brought together to commemorate Indigenous Day.

Wanniyalaththo requested the President to get the identity of indigenous persons living in various areas including Vakarai, Jaffna, Batticaloa and Trincomalee recognized.

These people who are known as Veddhas in maritime areas were in the grip of Tiger terrorists in the recent past. Wanniyalaththo explained President Rajapaksa how their people had been forcibly used for terrorist activities.

Wanniyalaththo requested the President to get the ancestral culture of Veddhas in maritime areas preserved and to prevent them from being used to get the needs and wants of others satisfied.

The President’s attention was drawn to the problems faced by the indigenous persons.

President Rajapaksa said that he had allocated Rs 500 million for the welfare of the Veddha community and inquired from the ministers the activities for which that money had been spent.

The President issued instructions to inquire into problems of indigenous people and to fulfill their needs within three months.

During President Rajapaksa’s stay in Kandy last week, he visited the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy and paid homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic.

Later, the President called on the Malwatte and Asgiriya Prelates at their temples and received their blessings after cordial discussions on several important issues.

It was at the prize-giving day of Dharmaraja College, Kandy, President Rajapaksa assured to grant additional marks to students that who are talented in sports when the marks level is considered for admission to universities in future.

He said children skilled in sports should be nurtured with knowledge and understanding. This measure is taken to encourage children who are inclined towards sports from a young age.

The President said the Ministers of Higher Education and Sports have been instructed to recommend the amount of marks which should be granted to students with sports skills at the stage of university admission.

He also emphasized the need to bequeath an educated and healthy child to society to ensure that these children will be encouraged towards studies and sports from their early days.

President Rajapaksa said teachers had a vital duty and responsibility to produce educated and disciplined students with high moral values from their schools. President Rajapaksa, whom met group of members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Graduates’ Association at Temple Trees on Friday stressed the importance of having a proper program to train graduates who were being recruited and would be recruited to the public service.

He said the Government offered jobs in the public sector on several occasions for graduates who passed competitive exams.

Members said the Association was grateful to the President for his decision to recruit 15,000 more graduates to the public sector.