PARLIAMENT

• A request from the Chair of the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities, Member of Parliament Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma

The second session of the program series organize by the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities to discuss the challenges, issues, opportunities faced by persons with disabilities and the measures and proposals that can be taken to properly address them was held recently (May 13) at the Kilinochchi District Secretariat.

The programme was presided over by the Chair of the Parliamentary Caucus for Persons with Disabilities, Member of Parliament Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma, and the co-chair of the caucus, Member of Parliament Hon. Madhura Withanage, Acting District Secretary of Kilinochchi District, Mr. S. Muralidaran, Secretary to the Ministry of Social Services of Northern Province, Mr. M. Wagish, Divisional Secretaries of Kandavalai, Karachi , Pachchileipalli, Punakari areas, Consultant of National Democratic Institute (NDI)  Mrs. Shyama Salgadu, President of United Front of People with Disabilities Ms. Rasanjali Pathirage were present.

Persons with disabilities living in Kilinochchi district, representatives of organizations representing the disabled community in Kilinochchi district, officials of several educational institutions that provide education for children with disabilities in Kilinochchi district, and a group of liaison officers of public representatives of the area also participated in this event.

The necessary information and proposals were gathered to establish a coordination mechanism for improving the inclusion of people with disabilities into the country's governance structure and society.

The disabled people and organizations who participated in the discussion presented their issues, views and suggestions .

Addressing the meeting, the chair of the caucus, Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma, requested that a steering committee for persons with disabilities be established in relation to each District Coordination and Regional Coordination Committee in the Northern Province and that a special space be reserved on the agenda to discuss the issues of the disabled community in each coordination committee. The chair also pointed out the value of implementing the same process in every district of the island.

The caucus chair pointed out that every district of Sri Lanka has at least one school that receives government support for children with special needs, but there is only one school for all the five districts of the Northern Province. Ranjith Chandrasekhara, a Sri Lankan philanthropist living in the UK, has expressed his desire to build the school if land is given in Kilinochchi district, so he requested the District Secretary and the Social Services Secretary to allocate land for it. Also, the chair emphasized that the attention of the Hon. President will be drawn to restart the Kilinochchi Vocational Training Center, which is currently inoperative.

According to the 2012 census in Sri Lanka, 8.2% of the total population, nearly 1.7 million people, have been identified as persons with disabilities, the chair said. The chairman also emphasized the issue of the lack of a correct data system that includes information regarding persons with disabilities throughout the island.

Meanwhile, the disabled community expressed issues regarding the existing weaknesses in public transport facilities. Accordingly, arrangements have been made to import buses to be added to the Sri Lankan transport system and the necessary measures will be taken to deploy a number of the buses to facilitate the transportation of the disabled, the caucus co-chair, Member of Parliament Hon. Madhura Withanage said.