PARLIAMENT

The Hon. Ajith Rajapakse, the Deputy Speaker and the Chair of the Committee took the Chair.


Announcements by the Speaker

A : Endorsement of the certificate on a Bill under Article 79 of the Constitution  
B : Receipt of copies of petitions in respect of the Bill titled “Sri Lanka Electricity” filed at the Supreme Court
C : Co-opted Members to serve on Legislative Standing Committee for the consideration of the “Chiththa Advanced Psychological Studies Open Institute of Sri Lanka (Incorporation) Bill”
D : Special Meeting with the Party Leaders and the Members of the Committee on Parliamentary Business


Presentation of Papers by the Speaker

•    Ninth Installment – Part XLII of the Report of the Auditor–General for the Financial Year 2020;
•    Second Installment – Parts LI and LII of the Report of the Auditor–General for the Financial Year 2021; and
•    Second Installment – Parts XLV and XLVI and Ninth Installment – Part XXIX of the Report of the Auditor–General for the Financial Year 2022

in terms of Article 154(6) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.


Presentation of Papers

(i)    Annual Report of the National Child Protection Authority for the year 2021
(ii)    Annual Report of the CeyNor Foundation Limited for the year 2019.
(iii)    Annual Report and Accounts of the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency for the year 2021
(iv)    Annual Report of the National Institute of Plantation Management for the year 2022
(v)    Annual Report of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau for the year 2022

(vi) Regulation made by the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies under Section 123(8) of the Inland Revenue Act, No. 24 of 2017, as amended by the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Act, No. 4 of 2023 relating to the Information to be Shared on a Regular Basis to the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue and published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2376/25 of 21st March 2024.
(vii)    Regulations made by the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies under Section 20 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, No. 1 of 1969 amended by Acts, No. 48 of 1985 and No. 28 of 1987 read with Sections 4(1) and 14 of the aforesaid Act and published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2379/03 of 08th April 2024.
(viii)    Note on Supplementary Allocations from the Development Activities Programme appearing under Expenditure Head No. 240 of the Department of National Budget for the period from 01.03.2024 to 04.04.2024 under Section 6(1) of the Appropriation Act, No. 34 of 2023


Presentation of Reports from the Committees

(i)    The Report and the Minutes of the Legislative Standing Committee on “International Institute of Theravadha (Incorporation) Bill” was presented by the Hon. Premnath C. Dolawatte, Attorney at Law, on behalf of the Chair of the Committee.
(ii)    The Report and the Minutes of the Legislative Standing Committee on “Saweera Foundation (Incorporation) Bill” was presented by the Hon. Premnath C. Dolawatte, Attorney at Law, on behalf of the Chair of the Committee.
(iii)    The Report of the Committee on Public Finance was presented by the Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva, the Chair of the Committee.


Presentation of Petitions

(i)    The Hon. Chamal Rajapaksa                    
(ii)    The Hon. Kins Nelson                    
(Petitions stand referred to the Committee on Public Petitions)


Motions for Leave of Absence

Leave of Parliament was granted to the Hon. Kumara Welgama, Member of Parliament for Kalutara Electoral District to be absent from sittings of Parliament with effect from 07.05.2024, moved by the Hon. Chief Opposition Whip.


Presentation of Bills

The Hon. Leader of the House of Parliament moved the Bill entitled

“Women Empowerment”

to make provisions for the Empowerment of Women; to provide for the formulation and implementation of the national policy on advancement and Empowerment of Women; to established a National Commission on Women; to establish mechanisms for the protection of women’s rights and to prosecute against the violations of such rights; and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.


Private Members’ Bills

The Hon. M. A. Sumanthiran was granted leave to introduce the following Bill, entitled

“Employees’ Provident Fund (Amendment)”

Main Business of the House for Today

The following Items (appearing as Item Nos. 1 to 3 of today’s Order Paper) were approved by the House and Item No. 3 was referred to the Legislative Standing Committee.:-

(i) Partition (Amendment) Bill - with amendments
(ii)    Recovery of Loans by Banks (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Bill - with amendments
(iii)    Sathya Sri Ghanapathi Bhakthi Jana Sewa Foundation (Incorporation) Bill - Second Reading


Motion at the Adjournment Time

Motion at the Adjournment Time on “Problems faced by agricultural research and production assisted officers” was proposed by the Hon. Samanpriya Herath.


The Parliament was, thereafter adjourned at 1803 Hrs. until 0930 Hrs. on Wednesday 8th May 2024.

*  This is an unedited version. For the official record of this day's proceedings, please refer the Hansard.