Massive demo calling for Divi Neguma Department

A massive demonstration was held near the Parliamentary complex yesterday, urging the Government to get the Divi Neguma Development Department Bill passed with a two-thirds majority.

Nearly 20,000 people including members of Samurdhi trade unions and progressive people’s organisations participated in the demonstration.

They wanted the Government not to withdraw the bill regardless of the obstacles since the LTTE rump and international forces are apparently behind the conspiracy to obstruct the Divi Neguma Bill.  The demonstrators appealed to the public to join the Government’s campaign to defeat this plot by all possible means.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa presented the Bill in Parliament yesterday.

The Government, having won the anti-terrorist war, sees the Divi Neguma Development Department Bill as a great strength to eradicate poverty, according to the demonstrators.

They said the failure of reactionary parties to understand the importance of the Bill has exposed the conspiracy to defeat it. The demonstrators had come from all corners of the country – Jaffna, the south and the north. Political party leaders who arrived at the scene were seen exchanging views with the participants, whose objective was to ensure the realisation of the hopes of 27,000 officers and 20 million people by establishing the Divi Neguma Development Department.

Samurdhi officers and activists of the Organisation for Protecting the Rights of Samurdhi Beneficiaries said in one voice that the Divi Neguma Development Department Bill has received the support and blessings of the majority of the people. The enthusiasm of the demonstrators braving the mid-day sun showed they had the courage to face any challenge.

Twenty-five organisations including the Samurdhi Managers and Coordinators Association, Samastha Lanka Samurdhi Development and Assistant Agricultural Research Products Officers Association, Sri Lanka General Workers Association, and Samurdhi Managers Association organised the demonstration.  After the demonstration they went in procession from Ethul Kotte Junction to Parliament Circle to express their support for the Bill.