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War hero families to get special-benefits cards
View(s):To raise the living standards of more than 300,000 Ranaviru families and disabled service personnel, the Government on January 25 will launch the Virusara Privilege Card that enables them to obtain goods and services at concessionary prices, in addition to other benefits.
The card, which endows family members of fallen war heroes and differently-abled service personnel special benefits, was launched following a proposal last year by State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene.
The card, is renewable every five years, enables a holder to obtain a host of products and services at concessionary prices from government and private institutions, receive scholarship and entitle to get priority services, among other benefits.
Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi said the Government initially planned to launch this programme last year but was delayed due to the political situation.
“There is no special reason to bring this programme at this juncture. We have been working on this since the new Government took office in January last year,” he said.
The card carries the name of the war hero and will be issued to his or her family members.
Apart from war hero families from the three forces, families of police officers and the Civil Defence Force members who died in action, disappeared or were disabled in the war are also entitled to receive the card.
“Spouses and children of the war heroes are entitled to use this card for their education, medical facilities and every day shopping.
At least thirteen government institutions and 33 corporate sector companies in the retail trade, transport, education, insurance, medical, and telecommunication fields have come forward to offer discounts,” Mr. Hettiarachchi said.
Under the first phase of this programme, some 5,000 war hero families will be given the privilege cards at a January 25 Temple Trees ceremony which will be attended by President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and State Minister Wijewardene.
In a related development, the Government as part of its post-war reconciliation measures will hand over one hundred scholarships, each worth Rs. 50,000, to war-affected children in the North and East.
Students who have lost both parents and those who are struggling from poor financial circumstances were selected for the scholarship.
“The grant will be deposited in the National Savings Bank (NSB) under the child’s name until he or she has completed his Advanced Level education, but the students will be entitled to receive stationery and educational equipment through this grant,” APG Kithsiri, Secretary to the Ministry of State for Defence said.
| Facilities provided by the govt. and private sector* Discounts of 10% to 20% on OPD charges, room charges, doctor charges, service charges, admission fee, clinic charges and lab test charges at private hospitals including Nawaloka, Durdans, Asiri Surgical and Nine Wells. * Pharmacies of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation to provide preferential treatment to obtain drugs speedily and 5% discounts on all purchases of medicine. * J.M.C ( Jayasekera Management Centre): 50% discount on the course fee and free education for two students * E-Soft: 10 to 25% discounts on course fee; three scholarships. * The National Institute of Business Management: 5% discounts for certificate level and diploma Courses. * The Sri Lanka Vocational Training Authority: 25% discounts for two students and vocational training and job offers on priority basis. * Wijeya Graphics: 25% discounts for courses in Graphic Designing & in Digital Animation. * ACBT: 10% discounts on the study courses during the first semester. If the student obtains more than 85% marks at the first semester examinations, the discount will be extended to 30%. * The Department of Technical Education & Training: 3% discounts on courses. * Cargills Food City: 5% discounts for monthly purchases of over Rs. 10,000. * Singer: 10% discount on all Singer manufacturing items and 7.5% on other brands. The guarantee period of one year will be extended to three years. * Damro: Additional discount of 5% apart from the special discounts offered to military personnel. * One per cent interest rate to be added to the current rate of interest in terms of fixed deposits and savings accounts at government and private banks. They include the Peoples Bank, the Bank of Ceylon, Seylan Bank, Sampath Bank an dCommercial Bank. * The Sri-Lanka Insurance Corporation also the Continental Insurance Corporation: 10% discount on monthly premium of insurance coverage. * Ceylinco Insurance Corporation: Health Coverage at the rate of Rs 1000 a year, with all benefits within Rs. 100,000. The benefits include: a) Rs. 4000 a day for hospitalisation (surgery) in private hospitals. • The following benefits will be provided by the LOLC Group of companies: a) Free issue of visa debit card and exemption from transaction costs. • A special payment scheme introduced for packages and usage for Telecom, Mobitel, Dialog, Airtel, Etisalat and other telecommunication services. • SriLankan Airlines: 25% discounts on air tickets Other state institutes that have agreed to offer concessions include: the Ministry of Health & Indigenous Medicine, the Department of Technical Education & Training, Sri-Lanka Telecom and the State Bank of Mortgage and Investment. |