“Divi Neguma” to enhance livelihoods of 1.4 m households

By Uditha Jayasinghe

The Economic Development Ministry yesterday launched a new programme to enhance livelihoods that will target 1.4 million households with the resources of 17 ministries and almost 50, 000 public officials at ground level.

Titled “Divi Neguma” it aims to increase production in “Domestic Economic Units” countrywide in three areas, namely agriculture, industries, fisheries and dairy. Minister Basil Rajapaksa outlined the ambitious plans for the project at a press conference held to announce the programme’s official launch on 12 March.

“We will pick 100 houses from each of the 14, 000 Grama Sevaka divisions in the country and hand them leaflets to decide what sector they want to engage in. After they have decided what they want to do the Samurdhi, Agriculture and family health officials along with the Grama Sevaka will provide knowledge to the villagers. We have already commenced training for these officials,” he explained adding that seeds and fertiliser will also be provided to those chosen for the programme. Nine ministries involved in agriculture, five in industries and three in fisheries and dairy will support the programme. Finance and Planning Ministry, Economic Development Ministry, Public Administration and Home Affairs Ministry and Local Government and Provincial Councils Ministry will be the other supporting partners of the programme.   

Given that the greatest need is for vegetables the government is starting on the agriculture phase initially. They will be followed by the second and third phases of industries and fisheries and dairy respectively. However a clear timeline for the commencement of phase two and three were not outlined with the intention being to concentrate on the climate to give indications of when the next two phases can get off the ground. For dairy farming and industries the government has promised livestock and loan schemes as capital investments. “At present people can get loans up to Rs.300, 000 from Samurdhi banks and we will negotiate with State banks to provide larger loans for eligible applicants under ‘Divi Naguma.’”       

Under the agriculture chapter the “Divi Neguma” recipient can choose between 12 types of seeds if he is residing in the low country, 6 types if from wet zone and 3 types if from up country. Other assistance will be provided by the grass root level officials.   

Structured much like the “Gama Neguma” project the “Divi Neguma” programme is expected to assist the people to expand their livelihoods and make a greater contribution to the economy. However the amount of funding that will be poured in by the government was not mentioned by the minister, yet in the previous programme each Grama Sevaka division was granted Rs.1 million totalling a hefty Rs.14 billion for the project.