(UTV | COLOMBO) – Leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), Parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen has urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to inquire into to the misappropriation of the programme to generate 100,000 employment opportunities.
It is my firm belief that jobs must be given to the most deserving on merit. If the deserving job applicants are sidelined in favour of political lackeys, the tax payers will be paying salaries of political supporters and the qualified will be left to bite the dust. pic.twitter.com/BWJy69r2DI
— Rishad Bathiudeen (@rbathiudeen) March 30, 2021
In a letter addressed to President Rajapaksa, the former Minister said he received several complaints from the general public of Vanni District comprising of Mannar, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya Districts, stating that although the candidates for the first stage of the employment programme were selected prior to the last General Elections by the respective Authorities, a new list of beneficiaries have been proclaimed at present. It is further informed that the selected candidates has neither submitted an application nor has faced the relevant interviews before.
“You would no doubt appreciate that the people of the Vanni District were severely affected by the 3-decades civil war. It is woeful that these people are pushed toward s political victimisation in the present era via such kind of activities,” former Minister added.
Former Minister Bathiudeen requested the Presidential intervention to “Prevent the Officials from misusing the project for their personal gains, in order to achieve the sole objective of the project which is to eradicate poverty.”