We Are Ready to Work with the Government for the People: Mano Ganesan
23-May-2026.
Tamil Progressive Alliance leader and MP Mano Ganesan stated that estate managements should not carry out attacks against plantation workers and Hill Country residents and affirmed readiness to work with the Government for the welfare of the people.
He made these remarks during the Parliamentary adjournment debate on Hill Country land rights held on 21 May.
He stated:
“As representatives of Hill Country people, it is our responsibility to voice their basic problems. The JVP in the past carried out protests and demonstrations to draw attention to grievances. Likewise, we are using Parliament to seek solutions for our people.
As the Tamil Progressive Alliance, we did not merely wander around the Hill Country in the past. We initiated many development projects. We only ask that those projects be continued.
We launched the seven-perch land ownership scheme, which has now become a ten-perch scheme. We initiated the Indian housing project. Continue those programmes.
We increased the number of local councils in Nuwara Eliya District from five to ten and secured legal rights for Hill Country people. We also introduced reforms to the Pradeshiya Sabha Act and established Divisional Secretariats parallel to local councils.
We laid the legal foundation for plantation people to directly access public services. We are not responsible for the backwardness of the Hill Country; history is. Do not place all blame on us. The black chapters of history are responsible.
We established the Hill Country Development Authority to uplift politically, socially, and economically marginalised communities. However, this Government is discriminating against the Authority in releasing funds.
We brought estate hospitals under the national healthcare system and enacted laws enabling the acquisition of two hectares of land for plantation schools. Therefore, it should not be claimed that nothing was done. We know that 200 years of oppression cannot be ended within five years.
Recently, we discussed with the Public Security Minister incidents of violence and intimidation in plantation areas. We resolved that plantation companies should not attack workers or residents.
Estate managements must act according to the law alongside the police. They have no authority to take the law into their own hands. There is now hope that violence in plantation areas will cease. We are prepared to work together with the Government for our people while fulfilling our role as the Opposition,” he said.
