The President's Fund which was established under Act No.7 of 1978 under the patronage of H.E. the President, J.R. Jayewardene has 7 members on the Board of Governors which manages the Fund viz.
1. H.E. the President
2. Hon. Prime Minister
3. Hon. Speaker
4. Hon. Leader of the Opposition
5. Secretary to the President
6. Two members appointed by H.E. the President
The objectives of the Fund as laid down in the Act are:
a) Relief of Poverty
b) Advancement of Education or Knowledge
c) Advancement of Religion or the maintenance of religious rites and Practices
d) Making awards to persons who have served the nation
e) For any other purpose, which in the opinion of the President and the Board, is of benefit or interest to the Public.
The funding sources of the President's Fund are primarily two viz. :
(a) proceeds from the Development Lottery
(b) income from investments made by the President's Fund and lying in fixed deposits in banks.
50% of the proceeds remitted to the President's Fund by the Development Lottery have to be remitted to the Mahapola Scholarship Fund.
After 1994 the activities of the President's Fund were reviewed and decisions taken with a view to laying special emphasis on the disbursement of funds to key areas like health and education, particularly with a view to providing access to the needy and deprived sections of the population to educational opportunities and specialized health care.
Health Sector
| 01. |
The President's Fund grants financial assistance to patients undergoing heart surgery, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment, hip and knee cap replacements, scoliosis (correction of spinal cord deformity) and certain other life threatening illnesses. |
| |
|
| 02. |
A Special scheme was launched at Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya under the patronage of President's Fund to bring relief to patients awaiting cardiac surgery and to make use of infrastructure facilities, expensive equipment and the services of the trained specialized staff available in the hospital by engaging the present staff of these institutions to operate on patients after duty hours on weekdays and during weekends and on public holidays. |
| |
|
| 03. |
A sum of Rs. 13,472,360 has been granted to the Secretary, My. of Healthcare & Nutrition for purchasing of 10 Haemodialysis machines for the Nephrology Unit at the General Hospital, Kandy on 18.01.2006. |
| |
|
| 04. |
A sum of Rs. 59,990,000/- has been granted to the Secretary, My. of Healthcare & Nutrition to buy the CT Scanner for the General Hospital, Anuradhapura on 19.07.2006. |
| |
|
| 05. |
A sum of Rs. 11,972,312/- has been granted to the Secretary, My. of Healthcare & Nutrition to buy the equipment for the G.R. Handy Memorial Cardiology Unit at the Teaching Hospital, Jaffna on 17.07.2006. |
| |
|
| 06. |
The P/F also releases monies for the construction of buildings for hospitals. |
| |
|
Education Sector
01. A scholarship scheme was formulated in 1996 and scholarships awarded to public servants, university lecturers, children of public servants, artistes, sculptors, journalists, etc. under this scheme.
02. Under the Presidential Financial Assistance Scheme for school applicants for the G.C.E. (A/L) Examination 100 scholarships per an educational zone are granted to assist needy children who drop out of schools after the G.C.E. (O/L) due to their parents' inability to provide financial assistance to continue their studies.
01. |
Presidential Sports and Cultural Centres are constructed using the monies of the President's Fund
Presidential Centres for Culture and Sports are constructed to help the youth in the districts to develop skills and abilities in sports and the arts. Further, these centres will provide recreational facilities for the youth in the locality.
The constructions of Kuliyapitiya & Sammanthurai centres have been completed and the main buildings of Anuradhapura and Mahiyangana centres have also been completed. Construction of Polonnaruwa and Gampaha centres are in progress. |
|
|
02. |
The President's Fund had granted assistance to launch the housing programmes mainly having as the target beneficiaries those combatants in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police but also targeting a few disabled in action and some families of those missing and killed in action. |
|
|
03. |
Grants from the P/F were also given for rain water harvesting projects to meet part of the contribution due from the project beneficiaries of the ADB funded Water Supply Sanitation Project. |
|
|
04. |
A special project was also launched in the North-Central Province by the Human Disaster Management Council to develop the threatened villages. Major areas for rehabilitation were identified and the estimated cost for education, health, water supply and sanitation, road development and irrigation rehabilitation were granted from the P/F. |
|
|
05. |
The President's Fund also had to release around Rs. 204 Million to construct houses damaged by flood and earth slips in 2003 in three provinces and for rehabilitation of damaged schools in Sabaragamuwa & Southern provinces. |
The President's Fund is indeed a fund of hope and solace to the needy and deprived sections of the people of Sri Lanka who receive much needed financial assistance to relieve the economic and financial distress faced by their families particularly where patients suffer from life threatening illnesses like heart disease, kidney failure, cancer etc. It has also contributed substantially towards the improvement of health care facilities in the State sector enabling poor patients to obtain highly specialized health services from State hospitals free of charge.
For more information on the Presidents Fund, please visit www.presidentsfund.gov.lk |
