President Maithripala Sirisena today launched the Gramashakthi People’s Movement, aimed at the elimination of poverty from the country, at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo.

The Gramashakthi People’s Movement is the flagship development programme launched in line with the vision of the President for a Sustainable Sri Lanka with a robust economy free of all forms of poverty by the year 2030. 

The year 2017 was declared as the Year of Poverty Eradication in order to empower the majority of the economically and socially disadvantaged people and to make a reality of true freedom and equality of Sri Lankan citizens.

Accordingly, a national programme will be implemented covering the whole country through the Gramashakthi People’s Movement, to provide sustainable solutions for the poverty faced by the country while understanding the challenges confront with the country’s poverty.

The Gramashakthi People’s Movement will be implemented island-wide while giving priority for the districts where the population of low-income families are high and initially 1,000 villages will be covered and by the year 2020 it will be expanded to 5,000 villages.

The objective of Grama Shakthi project is to create a fair society which provides similar opportunities for ever community, through following its community ruled rural development access.

This will focus on the livelihood requirements of completely and relatively poor families in Grama Niladhari Divisions, needs of women and unemployed youth, needs of those who affected by war in the North and the East, needs of those who should be empowered, needs of entrepreneurs and people who want to be entrepreneurs, opportunities to free the people from debt burden and the sustainability of the recognized livelihoods.

Grama Shakthi is a national movement which is operated in line with the current programs for poverty alleviation. It also evaluates the current poverty alleviation programs. This is a combined program of state sector, private sector and the people.

During this ceremony the national program of Grama Shakthi will be declared. Thousand villages programs related to the 2017 will also be symbolically implemented. Adding the updated Gami Diriya 2040 villages into Grama Shakthi and declaring of the cooperation of the private sector, related to this national poverty alleviation program will also take place at this occasion.

Source: PMD