Government Trying to Undermine Provincial Councils: MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam

27-Jul-2025

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TNA MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam alleged in Parliament that the government is actively working to weaken the provincial council system and that multiple ministries are engaging in such efforts.

Speaking during the oral questions session directed at the Ministry of Transport, he said: "During a recent development meeting in Batticaloa, I raised several complaints about local roads. The problem is that many roads in our district fall under the Road Development Authority (RDA), while others are under local councils. But the central government holds control of the funding. For roads under provincial councils, we can't directly request funds from the central government. So, I ask: does your ministry allocate any funds to the provincial ministry?"

In response, Deputy Transport Minister Prasanna Kumar Gunasekara said: "There are many types of roads, and roads under provincial councils do face funding and technical resource constraints. To address this, we aim to transfer these roads to the RDA through our work programs so that development and technical assistance can be provided."

Chanakyan countered, saying: "Last week, when I questioned the Health Minister, he said the central government would take over provincial hospitals and turn them into model hospitals. Now you say the same about roads. All of this is justified by a lack of funds. Clearly, all ministries are systematically weakening provincial councils. If funds are available for the RDA, why can't they be allocated to the provincial road agencies? This is a deliberate attempt to undermine provincial council powers."