A report issued by the National Audit Office has revealed that 56 members of Parliament and Provincial Councils received medical assistance worth over Rs. 130 million from the Presidential Fund.
The report states that these financial allocations were made during the period 2005 to 2024.
According to the report, although Rs. 131,371,110 was provided to 56 members as medical assistance, it was mainly highlighted that the required procedures for granting this assistance were not properly followed.
Specifically, the report notes that key requirements—such as submitting a formal application, verifying the applicant’s monthly income limit, obtaining a Divisional Secretary’s report or an assessment of financial assets, and adhering to limits on the amount that can be granted—were not considered when providing these funds.
The management has stated that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is conducting an investigation into these transactions and that further action will be taken based on its findings.
Accordingly, the audit report recommends that all future actions comply with existing laws, rules, and regulations.
Although there is no provision for granting loans from the Presidential Fund, the report also reveals that medical assistance was provided to two MPs on a repayable basis, indicating that loan-like transactions occurred.
A letter from the President’s Secretary further states that Rs. 710,908,798 was provided to one Member of Parliament on a repayable basis from the Presidential Fund, but this amount had not been recovered as of June 2025.
Additionally, the fund had granted Rs. 29,809,143 to a former Prime Minister for medical facilities in 2012 and 2014, of which Rs. 13,748,217 was provided on a recovery basis. However, this amount also remains unrecovered as of June 2025.
Minister Nalinda Jayatissa has disclosed a list of politicians who received money from the Presidential Fund between 2005 and 2024. This revelation confirms the identities of individuals who received funds illegally, as highlighted in the audit.
It has been confirmed that these allocations were approved during the terms of office of former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The Minister revealed names of individuals who received high-value payments, representing the largest portion of the Rs. 131 million recorded in the audit. These include:
- Late former Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne – Rs. 30,000,000
- MP Ranjith Zoysa – Rs. 18,800,000
- Former Minister M.K.A.D.S. Gunawardena – Rs. 12,000,000
- Former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella – Rs. 11,000,000
- Rajitha Senaratne – Rs. 10,000,000
- Jayantha Weerasinghe – Rs. 9,000,000
- W.M.S. Fonseka – Rs. 5,500,000
- T.B. Ekanayake – Rs. 4,800,000
- John Amaratunga – Rs. 4,000,000
Other notable amounts include:
- Wimalaweera D. Sanayake – Rs. 3,000,000
- Joseph Michael Perera – Rs. 2,700,000
- Alec Aluwihare – Rs. 2,200,000
- Lucky Jayawardena – Rs. 1,600,000
- Vidura Wickramanayake – Rs. 1,500,000
- P. Chandrasekaran – Rs. 1,400,000
- S.A. Jagath Kumara, Jayalath Jayawardena, Namal Gunawardena, Dharmadasa Banda – Rs. 1,000,000 each
- K.P.S. Kumarasiri – Rs. 953,430
- Ranjith Aluvihare – Rs. 860,000
The Minister also revealed names of other politicians who received funds, though the exact amounts were not specified. These include P. Harrison, Piyasena Gamage, Sumedha Jayasena, Manoj Sirisena, P. Dayaratne, S.C. Muthukumarana, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Sarath Amunugama, S.B. Navinna, J.P. Dayasiri Padmakumara Jayasekara, Piyal Nishantha de Silva, Susil Premajayantha, and Isura Devapriya.
( With the inputs from Sinhala language news story published by Satahan- Whatnews site)