Ninety-eight houses built under the Indian Housing Project were handed over to the beneficiaries jointly by High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera at Helboda Estate in Nuwara Eliya recently.
Minister for Hill country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Palani Digambaram, Minister of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms Gayantha Karunathilake and Minister of Special Area Development, V. Radhakrishnan were also present.
Several Members of Parliament and of the Central Provincial Council, senior officials from Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), Implementing Agency – Habitat for Humanity, Sri Lanka, Pusellewa Regional Plantation Company and a large number of people from the region attended the function. The village was named after Bhagat Singh, a famous Indian freedom fighter and youth icon, whose martyrdom day falls on March 23.
The High Commissioner congratulated the owners of the newly built houses.
He said that the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka with a grant of over US$ 350 million (close to Rs. 50 billion), was the largest Indian grant assistance project in any country abroad. He also recalled that of the total commitment of 63,000 houses, 47,000 houses had already been built.
He reiterated the Government and people of India’s commitment to join the people of Sri Lanka in their journey towards prosperity and development.
India has undertaken more than 70 people-oriented development projects in various fields including health, education, housing, skill development, infrastructure, vocational training among others across the country. About, 20 such projects are currently in progress.
The overall development portfolio of the Government of India in Sri Lanka is close to US$ 3 billion out of which US$ 560 million are in grants.