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28 March 2024

New houses to be built for Tamil women soldiers

Construction of new houses begin for Tamil women soldiers in in Sri Lanka

Published
By Correspondent

To mark the 65th independence day celebrations on February 4, a housing project was launched for the families of newly-recruited Tamil women soldiers, under which 100 housing units are planned to be built in Kilinochchi in the northern province to uplift the living standards of their families, the Defence Ministry website revealed.

The foundation stone laying ceremony was held on February 4 for the first phase of the project to construct 20 houses, out of which, 8 houses will be built in the 57th Brigade area (Thirumurukkandi, Barathipuram, Wishwamadu) while 6 houses will be built in the 65 and 66 Brigade areas (Thewampidi, Mallawi, Mallawi North, Ponnagar, Nachchikuda, Shiwaneswari, Ranjipuram, Pudamurippuram, Paranthan, Mukkampidi, Kandapuram, Akkarayankulam).

The Sri Lanka army will construct the houses funded by the Government and each house is worth over Rs500,000.

Governor of the Northern Province Major General (Retd) G. A. Chandrapala handed over a sum of Rs. 10 million over to the authorities towards the project at a function held recently.

Religious dignitaries, senior military officers and family members of the Tamil women soldiers were also present at the occasion.

During a landmark ceremony at 6 Sri Lanka Army Women Corp (SLAWC) Headquarters at Bharathipuram, Kilinochchi, the biggest ever batch of 103 Tamil girls were enlisted last year by Sri Lanka Army to the 6 SLAWC of Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force.

Although, the Army has a fair number of Tamils and Muslims serving the Force, in its history it was the first time a mass-scale recruitment of Tamil girls of this magnitude took place as a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation.

The Army was able to accommodate only 103 applicants, out of more 200 girls applied for recruitment, selecting the best in three rounds of interview.

Majority of them were from the Northern Province yet there was a few from other parts of the country as well.