India Constructs New Buildings for Five Schools in Sri Lanka's Northern Province

Colombo: As Sri Lankan Tamils celebrate the Thai Pongal festival, India on Wednesday handed over new buildings for five schools it constructed in Northern Province under the people-oriented development cooperation with the Sri Lankan government.

A special event was held at St Henry's College, Ilavalai in Jaffna during which new school buildings constructed with the Indian assistance in Northern Province were handed over to the people of Sri Lanka.

At the event which coincided with the Thai Pongal festival, Northern Province Governor PSM Charles and the Deputy High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Vinod K Jacob jointly inaugurated the new buildings, the Indian High Commission said in a statement.

Senior government officials, leaders from the region, students and teachers of the schools and local people attended the functions.

These buildings are part of new classroom buildings being constructed in 27 schools in the Northern Province at a cost of 250 million Sri Lankan Rupees.

Of these, 20 school buildings have been completed and inaugurated including the buildings for five schools handed over today. The remaining seven school buildings are expected to be completed shortly, the release said.

This project is part of India's continued people-oriented development cooperation with Sri Lanka, the statement said.

India's overall commitment of development assistance to Sri Lanka stands at a total of around USD 3.5 billion and among these, USD 560 million is pure grant assistance.

Out of the total commitment of 63,000 houses, 47,500 houses have already been built. Besides, various projects undertaken for rehabilitation and resettlement, the Indian government has constructed a total of 46,000 houses in the region, it said.

India has also assisted Faculty of Agriculture and Engineering in Kilinochchi campus of Jaffna University with equipment and skill components worth SLR 600 million.

The ongoing development cooperation projects in the Northern Province under Indian government's grant assistance include construction of a cultural centre in Jaffna, construction of 3,000 rain water harvesting units, construction of 25 model villages consisting of 600 houses, establishing a business/ICT incubator Centre in Jaffna among others.