2026-03-03 / Oral Question: Agricultural Research and Production Assistants Appointments (Q.913/2025)

Hon. R.G. Wijerathna

2026-03-03

Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna raised concerns about the shortage of Agrarian Research and Production Assistants (ARPAs), highlighting that their heavy workload is causing delays in the disbursement of fertilizer subsidies to farmers during the ongoing Maha harvesting season. She noted that data entry for the subsidy system, which is the responsibility of ARPAs, is being hampered by insufficient officer numbers. She further pointed out that this shortage also hindered the timely collection of information during a recent cyclone.

Thank you, Hon. Deputy Minister. My first supplementary is this: At present ARPAs are handling a heavy workload. The Maha harvesting is underway, yet many farmers have not received the fertilizer subsidy. One reason is the lack of officers to enter data into the system—this task falls to ARPAs. Further, during the recent cyclone, there were difficulties in collecting the necessary information due to the shortage of these officers…