Announcement made by Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe

President Ranil Wickramasinghe directed the government officials not to miss anyone who is in need during the project of providing rice to low-income families.

At the same time, the President instructed the officials to purchase enough rice for 20 billion rupees to provide rice to 28 lakh 50 thousand families.

The President said the above while commenting on the discussion held at the Ministry of Defense today (14) regarding the procurement of paddy.

The President advised the authorities to convert the purchased paddy into rice and distribute it to the low income earners through a transparent mechanism.

President Ranil Wickramasinghe who further commented here-
We expect to purchase rice worth 20 billion rupees to provide rice to 28 lakh 50 thousand families under the Food Security Project. Also, we expect to protect the price of paddy by providing a guaranteed price.

The first step is to purchase paddy stocks. This work has been entrusted to the District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries. The government will not take steps to sell the rice. The government is taking steps to provide free rice to poor families. We will work with various ministries to take this project forward.

However, this requires a team to operate full-time. For this purpose, during the discussions held with the defense parties, consent was expressed to release the team of officials of the Ministry of Defense.

The cooperation of retired government officials can be obtained for this. The President also said that there should be a plan to decide this project within a certain time frame.