The Thiththavelkiwla Model Village in Monaragala was recently inaugurated and handed over to 24 beneficiary families by Santosh Jha, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, and A.M.P.M.B. Atapattu, the Secretary of the Ministry of Rural and Urban Development, Housing and Construction. The National Housing Development Authority Chairman, the Monaragala District Secretary, and officials from the Ministry of Rural and Urban Development, Housing and Construction, Uva Provincial Council, and Monaragala District Administration attended at the event.
“Monaragala model village inaugurated by the Indian High Commissioner”
With grant support from the Government of India, the Model Village Housing Project is being implemented in all 25 districts of Sri Lanka in partnership with the Ministry of Rural and Urban Development, Housing, and Construction, according to a press release issued by the Indian High Commission (IHC) in Colombo. In October 2017, the governments of Sri Lanka and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the project. 600 low-income families in Sri Lanka are given housing through the program; each model village has 24 homes per district, chosen by District Housing Committees.
The IHC added that 11 districts—Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Kandy, Gampaha, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Matale, Puttalam, Colombo, and Trincomalee—have already seen the opening and handover of model villages as part of this project. The remaining model villages are anticipated to be inaugurated and turned over to beneficiaries soon after more than 96% of the project has been completed.
