More petitions against Divi Neguma Bill

By Ashwin Hemmathagama

Our Lobby Correspondent

Supreme Court has received a total of 12 petitions filed against the controversial Divi Neguma Bill, confirmed Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody (MP – UPFA) yesterday at Parliament. “There are eight new petitions,” he confirmed.

In addition to the three determinations of the Supreme Court on Divi Neguma Bill, it cited violation of functions attributed to the Speaker by the Constitution and failure to follow due compliance last week.

The Divi Neguma Bill was presented to the Parliament last month in order to establish the Department of Divi Neguma Development by amalgamating the Samurdhi Authority of Sri Lanka, Southern Development Authority of Sri Lanka and the Udarata Development Authority of Sri Lanka to establish Divi Neguma community based organisations at a rural level.

 It aims to provide for a co-coordinating network at the district level and national level, to establish Divi Neguma community based banks and Divi Neguma community based banking societies, in furtherance of the economic development process and in giving effect to the national policy of alleviating poverty and ensuring social equity.

According to Ministry of Economic Development, it has become necessary to improve the individual, family and group centered livelihood development activities. Divi Neguma intends to mobilise people into a national development process at community level, establishing Divi Neguma community based organisations thus building up regional, district and national level co-coordinating networks and developing and promoting a micro-finance banking system.

The object of the department will be to carry out such development activities as may be required to alleviate poverty and to bring about a society guaranteeing social equity, to promote the individual family and group centered livelihood economic development activities, to ensure food security for each individual and family and to mobilise and empower people to speed up the national development.

Further, to provide micro-financial facilities for the purpose of promoting the livelihood development of people, to develop physical and social infrastructure facilities as may be required for the development of the livelihood of people, to carry out such studies and research as may be required relating to the economic and social upliftment of people, to develop the human capital in order to uplift living standards of people and and to create a social security network for those who are in need of social security.