The Southern Provincial Council Board of Ministers has decided to increase the councilors’ and ministers’ annual budgetary allocation for 2017 by Rs.5,00,000 to effectively launch urgent relief and welfare initiatives for affected people and to carry out pressing reconstruction work in flood affected areas of the province, Chief Minister Shan Wijayalal De Silva told the media.
Accordingly, councilors’ and ministers’ individual annual budgetary allocation for 207 will be increased from Rs.5 million to 5.5 million.
The respective provincial cabinet decision to amend the council’s Development Plan for 2017 has been ratified by the Southern Provincial Treasury and Planning Secretariat, the Chief Minister further said.
The councilors can use the above funds for the fulfillment of various urgent needs such as kitchen utensils, books, learning gears and stationery for children of disaster affected families and carry out restoration work on devastated road ways of extreme weather hit regions of the province.
Moreover, the Provincial Cabinet has decided to increase the maximum monetary allocations under three main categories of funds by large amounts.Accordingly, the Southern Province Social Services Fund will be increased from Rs.5 million to Rs 7.5 million while the Aid Fund for Low-income Families was augmented from Rs.7 million up to Rs.10.5 million.
The Southern Province Rural Development Fund was also increased up Rs. 5.25 million from Rs, 3.5 million.
Southern Provincial Council has also arranged to offer a special compensation Rs.25,000 in addition to the same offer by the Central Government to each died or missing person in floods and landslides in the province. The council has further initiated a special disaster relief loan for all flood affected provincial council employees.
Under the post disaster relief and welfare programme initiated by the Provincial Health Service Ministry and Southern Province Ayurveda Department, a special clinical project is in progress to organise both Western and Oriental clinics in flood affected areas.
The Southern Provincial Council has also launched a comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction scheme throughout the flood affected areas for which all provincial ministries, department and Local Government bodies which are not affected by floods are actively geared up to, Chief Minister further elaborated.
He also said that the council was planning to establish a distinctive Provincial Disaster Relief and Welfare Fund under the control and supervision of Provincial Chief Secretary with the voluntary monetary patronage of provincial state officials, other employees, Private organisations and philanthropists and the public.