India Hon.Nirmala Sitharaman and conveyed my sincere appreciation for her continued support to the people Sri Lanka

I had the privilege of recently meeting the Finance minister of India Hon.Nirmala Sitharaman and conveyed my sincere appreciation for her continued support to the people Sri Lanka

. I also apprised her my recent meeting with Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Where I had the opportunity to raise these important matters and highlight the urgent needs of the Sri Lankan plantation community. During our discussion, I respectfully sought her kind consideration to explore the extension of medical insurance coverage to the Sri Lankan plantation community through Life Insurance Corporation Lanka under a framework similar to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana which covers annually of LKR of 1.8 million per family I further appealed for the facilitation of OCI status for members of the plantation community who are able to produce either a birth certificate indicating Indian origin or historical ship-voyage records maintained at the Deputy High Commission of India in Kandy. I requested the adoption of a simplified and special process for granting OCI status to the Indian-origin community like in Mauritius, which would significantly broaden opportunities for our people. Additionally, I requested her kind consideration to increase the student scholarship allowance from the present LKR 2,500, with a view to further strengthening educational support for deserving students. And I have also briefed the Indian High Commissioner His.Excellency Santhosh Jha on all the above request