PARLIAMENT

Condolence motion for Chandrasiri Gajadeera

Gajadeera, a silent worker of the masses - Gayantha

Chief Government Whip and Lands and Parliamentary Affairs Cabinet Minister Gayantha Karunathilake yesterday moved the condolence motion on the demise of Matara district parliamentarian Chandrasiri Gajadeera, in Parliament yesterday.

He said that MP Gajadeera who was elected to the Parliament in 1994 was appointed as the Home Affairs, Provincial Council and Local Government Deputy Minister in the 2000. He thereafter was appointed as the Cooperative, Provincial Council and Local Government Deputy Minister. Later on he was appointed as deputy of many ministries. Later he was appointed as the Home Affairs Minister and Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister respectively. He was a patriot and never expected to flourish from politics.

Minister Karunathilake said that late Gajadeera was a close associate of the Tamil and Muslim communities. He also said that late Gajadeera played a major role to register traditional and indigenous medicine in the country and to increase the salaries of the Ayurvedic doctors on par with allopathic doctors.

He also played a greater role in providing houses for the people in the Matara district who were displaced in the catastrophic Tsunami in 2004.

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Gajadheera played key role in rehabilitation of ex-combats - Opposition Leader

MP Chandrasiri Gajadheera rendered a great service for the people of the Matara district in the aftermath of the Tsunami in 2004 and took great effort to provide housing for those who were displaced, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said presenting his condolence message on the demise of former Minister Chandrasiri Gajadheera in parliament yesterday.

Gajadheera was born on February 26,1946 to retired Principal Kernis Gajadheera and retired Principal Susan Ranaweera. Having commenced his primary education at the Ratnapura Dippitigala Maha Vidyalaya and St. Thomas College, prior to entering university and obtaining his degree in Sinhala language and ancient languages.

While in university he served as the Secretary of the student's union and later became the deputy president of the inter university student's union.

He later married Sidatta Jayasinghe and the couple had three daughters.They are Chaturadha who is a senior scientist, Pravindya who is a medical engineer and Amasara who is a lawyer.

“In 1976 Chandrasiri Gajadheera entered the teaching profession and later took oaths as a lawyer in 1981. In 1978 he contested the Matara Municipal Council elections and was elected. He then contested the Provincial Council election in1988 under the United Socialist Front and was elected as a member of the Southern Provincial Council.

Then in 1994 he represented the UPFA and contested the Matara district and won a parliamentary seat.

Thereafter he contested from the Matara electorate in 2000, 2002, 2010 and 2015 elections and earned the opportunity to enter parliament,” Rajapaksa noted.

Chandrasiri Gajadheera was 73 years old when he passed away at a private hospital in Colombo.

Gajadheera was a Minister of Rehabilitation and Prisons in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government and played a key role in the rehabilitation of ex-LTTE cadres.

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Questions round cancelled

The round of questions for oral answer was not taken up in Parliament yesterday.

Deputy Chairman of Committees Selvam Adeikalanathan who presided announced that Parliament would not take up the round of questions for oral answers in accordance with a decision reached at the Party Leaders' Meeting.

However the yesterday's order paper included 15 questions by the parliamentarians to be raised from the government Cabinet Ministers.