ISMATHUL RAHMAN
NEGOMBO: Nimal Lanza, State Minister for Rural Roads and Other Infrastructure said that arrangements have been made to present the budget this year obtaining necessary proposals from religious leaders,people’s representatives, government officials and rural committees.
State Minister, Nimal Lanza was speaking at a function held at the Wattala Pradeshiya Sabha Auditorium Saturday,Oct. 02.
Speaking further he said: “ Obtaining budget proposals at the village level will enable us to accurately identify whether the village should implement an economic process, a livelihood development or a welfare service. When the proposals are presented to the Minister of Finance, Basil Rajapaksa, he intended to include the relevant proposals in the budget after considering them with the relevant officials before the budget. It is for the first time in history that budget proposals are obtained by going to the village. We thank President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa for their cooperation .
The state minister explained that gazette notifications are issued and rescined from time to time considering the welfare of the people.
“ Today the people get rice without any shortage. The government has decided to control prices by bringing in 100,000 metric tons. Once rice is imported, the price will be lower than what it is today. We are not saying that it will reduce the price paid to farmers. Farmers will inevitably get better prices than today. Before we took over the government, farmers received only Rs. 30-35 per kilo of paddy. We have decided to give a fair price to farmers and a fair price to consumers when buying rice. This time, considering all these factors, the Minister of Finance will present a very good budget in 2022.
The corona pandemic in the world is something we never expected. The whole world is going through great challenges and difficulties. During these two years as a government the government has lost all its revenue. The government receives revenue from the people. We cannot get income by crushing the people. That is why the revenue which was 3000 billion has been reduced to 1200 billion. It is the first country in the world to pay the salaries of public servants without any reduction in pensions. One hundred percent paid. No one talks about these. The government obtains revenue by indirectly and directly taxing the people. The government’s revenue has decreased due to not taking them by force.
The people, the government and the world are passing through a bad time because of the corona pandemic. Now the hard times are over. The hardest time, the most challenging time since yesterday is over. We will provide all the services that the people of this country expect in the next four years from today. Many people know that the economy has collapsed and jobs have been lost due to the corona pandemic. Suppression of corona is not something that only the government can do. All the people should unite for that. We are at the top of the world in vaccination. Norway has decided to open the country completely. Why Singapore is opening up the country. Even such powerful countries cannot close the country and recover the economy. We call on the people to work together to overcome these challenges and the economic process. State Minister, Nimal Lanza further stated.
