Prisons Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D.M.Swaminathan said that his ministry received Rs.14,050 million in 2016 for the accelerated resettlement programme and spent 93.2 per cent of this amount.
The Minister in a statement said that in 2017 Rs.9000 million has been allocated to his ministry for the accelerated resettlement programme, out of which Rs.8983.7 milion was spent.
The statement: “His Excellency the President has pointed out the wrong information in his speech delivered in Jaffna for election propaganda regarding my Ministry. It is my responsibility to explain the actual facts regarding the expenditure of my Ministry. My Ministry spent the fund allocated for accelerated ResettlementProgramme efficiently for the betterment of the displaced people in the past years.
“The Ministry received Rs.14,050 Mn in 2016 for Accelerated Resettlement Programme and spent 93.2%.In the year 2017 Rs.9000 Mn has been allocated to my Ministry for Accelerated Resettlement programme, out of which my ministry spent Rs.8983.7Mn (99.8%) including bills in hand to fulfill the basic needs of the resettled people. I release this message with the concurrence of the Treasury. I wish to state that if the impress had beenreleased on time the entire funds could have been spent by my Ministry”.