Select Committee to begin hearing Budget votes of 25 ministries
Tuesday, 17 December 2013 00:01
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By Ashwin Hemmathagama Our Lobby Correspondent
A part of the 25 ministries referred to a Select Committee to explore Heads of Expenditure in Budget 2014 will be taken for discussion today.
The move follows instructions issued by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa on Saturday.
The ministries subjected for today’s discussion will include, Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, Social Welfare, Public Relations and Public Affairs, National Heritage, Culture and the Arts, National Languages and Social Integration, Resettlement, Disaster Management, Botanical Gardens and Public Recreation, Wildlife Resources Conservation, and Productivity Promotion.
Tomorrow, Plantation Industries, Minor Export Crop Promotion, Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development, Sugar Industry Development, Postal Services, Private Transport, Public Management Reforms, Labour and Labour Relations, State Resources and Enterprise Development, Livestock and Rural Community Development, Environment and Renewable Energy, and Parliamentary Affairs Ministries will be taken for discussion.
With the prevailing time constraints, Speaker Rajapaksa appointed a Select Committee on 23 November to explore Heads of Expenditure of the selected 25 ministries and a secretariat was also established.
This committee was led by the Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management and the Leader of the House of Parliament Nimal Siripala de Silva aiming to minimise the time concerns which would have affected the second reading of Budget 2014 with each ministry being debated only for two hours.
Members of the Select Committee were Minister W.D.J. Senewiratne, Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Minister Dinesh Dunawardena, Minister Rauf Hakeem, Minister Athauda Seneviratne, Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera, Deputy Minister Muthu Sivalingam, Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiwanna, MP Joseph Michael Perera, MP John Amaratunga, MP Sunil Handunnetti, MP Suresh Premachandran, MP Pon Selvarasa, MP R. Yogarajan, MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, MP Silvastrie Alantin, MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP Dr. Sudharshani Fernandopulle, MP Rosie Senanayake and MP Hunais Farook.
