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Youth to the fore in UNP’s ‘Green light to capture power’
The UNP election manifesto titled “Green light to capture power” (Bala Peraliyata Kola Eliya) aimed at the forthcoming Western and Southern Provincial Council elections, was launched on Wednesday at the UNP headquarters. Creation of employment opportunities for youth is one of the major issues addressed in the manifesto.
Karu Jayasuriya UNP Leadership Council chairman hands over the party’s maniffesto to party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
As an initial step to cater to the aforesaid need, a job bank which takes account of the qualifications and skills of all job seekers within the province, will be created, and an account of the job vacancies in both Government and private sectors will be maintained by the Council. Subsequently, the Council would be an active mediator between both parties, by organising job fairs on a monthly basis.
If an entrepreneur volunteered to train the unemployed youth within the province, the council would pay a sum of Rs 10,000 per trainee to the entrepreneur as an encouragement. The manifestos for both provinces also deliberate on the restructuring of the education sector, outlining the necessary laws to be established with immediate effect to eliminate distinction between the national and provincial schools. The prevailing criteria of the central government for school admissions will be replaced by new criteria suitable for the province. The manifesto assures an allotment of 6% of GDP for the education sector.
A couple of policies in the manifesto deal with the elimination of bribery, fraud and corruption, by establishing an independent provincial commission to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption, appointing a provincial ombudsman to deal with public complaints and enforcing the Council’s power to act against corruption in local government authorities.
Postal voting for the upcoming elections was held on Friday
Addressing the drug menace, the UNP promises to establish a fully empowered special task force to eradicate the problem, and to build well-equipped rehabilitation centres for drug addicts. Initiating a Provincial Health Insurance system, providing fertiliser subsidies, while insisting that the Government distribute standard quality fertilisers to farmers, encouraging the production of fibre-glass boats, fishing nets and other equipment needed for fishery activities within the province, by providing the infrastructure for those industries and introducing internationally recognised means of waste disposal, are a few of the other policies in the manifesto.
It also encompasses a range of issues such as the enforcement of the right to information, facilitating senior citizens as well as disabled persons, improving the provincial government service and appointing committees comprising intellectuals to advise the Council.