By Sitaram Mewati
India has handed over 24 newly built homes to low-income families in Sri Lanka’s Polonnaruwa district, marking the inauguration of the country’s 21st model village supported through an Indian government grant.
High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and Deputy Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply T.B. Sarath jointly inaugurated the ‘Suhada Gama’ Model Village on September 4. Speaker of Parliament Dr Jagath Wickramarathna also attended the ceremony.
The Model Village Housing Project is being implemented across all 25 districts of Sri Lanka in partnership with the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Water Supply, with grant assistance from the Government of India.
A Memorandum of Understanding for the initiative was signed between the Governments of India and Sri Lanka in October 2017. The project aims to provide housing facilities to 600 low-income families across the island. Each model village comprises 24 houses, with beneficiaries selected by the respective District Housing Committees.
Prior to the Polonnaruwa handover, model villages had been inaugurated in 20 districts, including Jaffna, Kandy, Colombo, Trincomalee, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Ratnapura and Kalutara.
With the inauguration of Suhada Gama, the overall project has reached nearly 98.5 percent completion. The remaining four model villages are expected to be inaugurated and handed over to beneficiaries soon.
The ceremony was attended by district parliamentarians, senior officials of the National Housing Development Authority and representatives of the Polonnaruwa district administration. The housing initiative highlights India’s continuing development partnership with Sri Lanka and its support for improving housing and living conditions for low-income families across the island.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
