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The Seva Vanitha Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs awarded scholarships to over 110 children of army personnel who were killed or maimed in action. This ceremony was held at the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress Hall on November 29. The spouses of the diplomatic corps, parents of the scholarship recipients, army officials and members of the Seva Vanitha Unit and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at this ceremony.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was the chief guest and Madam Suganthie W. Kadirgamar, in her capacity as the President of the Seva Vanitha Unit, addressed the audience.

In June 1997, the Seva Vanitha Unit of the Ministry decided to raise funds through the Sri Lankan Missions abroad to address a worthy cause. It became apparent to the Seva Vanitha Unit that helping with the education of children affected by the terrorist conflict would be a most worthy project. The Sri Lankan Missions abroad raised these funds through trade fairs, generous contributions from well-wishers and other events in their respective host countries. The total amount of funds raised was Rs. 20,570,000. This is the fourth phase of this project and as of now, the total number of scholarship recipients stands at 461.

Each child would be entitled to receive approximately Rs. 580 per month until he or she reaches the age of eighteen. An amount of Rs. 50,000 is deposited for each of these young scholarship recipients except for six for whom the sums were deposited Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 respectively. At the end of eighteen years each recipient will remove the full sum deposited.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs in his address stated that a Foreign Ministry of a country should not concentrate exclusively on external relations, thus isolating crucial domestic issues. He added that these young children had become the innocent victims of the ongoing conflict.

He applauded the Seva Vanitha Unit Project of the Ministry and the missions abroad for their contribution, cooperation and effort extended to address this compelling concern. The Minister further added that the scholarship recipients are from all parts of the country.

He requested the parents to look after the money and expedite them for their academic purposes. He observed that the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka is probably the only Foreign Ministry in the world to be engaged in such a project.

At the outset of the project the Minister had made it clear that he would not tolerate any political interference in the selection process from any quarter. He was pleased that this principle had been scrupulously observed during the execution of the project.

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