VP Radhakrishnan to visit Sri Lanka’s Nuwara Eliya to meet beneficiaries of Indian Housing Project
Colombo, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan will visit the central tea plantation district of Nuwara Eliya on Monday to meet with the beneficiaries of the Indian Housing Project before concluding his two-day visit to Sri Lanka, officials said.
Radhakrishnan’s visit is the first ever by an Indian vice president to Sri Lanka.
The vice president will visit the Liddesdale Estate in Ragala in the district of Nuwara Eliya in the central province to meet and interact with some beneficiaries of the Indian Housing Project, officials said.
He will also visit a village where 166 houses have been constructed by India for the benefit of tea plantation estate workers.
Afterwards, he will visit the Sita Amman Temple in Sitha Eliya and from there he will return to Colombo.
During talks with Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya on Sunday, who is also the education minister, Radhakrishnan discussed cooperation in the field of education.
An announcement regarding the enhancement of the Ceylon Estate Workers Education Trust scholarship scheme was also made.
The number of scholarships under this scheme is being doubled from 350 to 700 and the monthly stipend is being increased from LKR 2,500 for A-level students and to LKR 7,500 for those pursuing higher education.
During talks with leaders of the Sri Lankan Tamil and the Indian origin Tamil parties on Sunday, he announced that the Overseas Citizen Card will now be extended to the fifth and the sixth generation of the diaspora.
This is expected to benefit, in particular, the Indian origin Tamil community. Up to now the privilege had only been limited to the fourth generation diaspora.
The vice president also announced the completion and handing over of the final tranche of houses under Phase 3 of the Indian Housing Project.
This Phase 3 includes 4,000 houses for estate workers in the plantation regions of the central province, Uva and the southern province of Sri Lanka.
As many as 3,855 units under Phase 3 had already been handed over and during this visit, the remaining 145 units have been completed and handed over marking a significant milestone in the progress of the Indian Housing Project.
The project, which was announced almost 15 years ago, has an overall commitment of nearly 1,835 crore Indian rupees.
It is a flagship grant assistance project in Sri Lanka and considered the largest such Indian grant assistance project outside of India.
At least 50,000 houses have already been completed under this project and work on a fourth phase comprising 10,000 houses is now underway.
Radhakrishnan and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday discussed the proposed link between India and the island nation through an oil pipeline.
Radhakrishnan and Dissanayake also had productive discussions on further deepening the multifaceted bilateral ties, housing projects and fishermen issues between the two South Asian neighbours.
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