Minister Jeevan Thondaman has confirmed that the recently announced Indian grant of ₹75 crore will be utilized primarily for the development of education and health sectors in Sri Lanka’s Malaiyaha (hill country) Tamil community, specifically focusing on the long-neglected tea estate region. The Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development emphasized the goal of achieving transformative change rather than merely cosmetic improvements in the lives of the Indian-origin Tamil community in the area.
At 28 years old, Jeevan Thondaman, who also serves as the General Secretary of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, expressed the importance of creating conditions that will have a lasting and positive impact on the lives of the community members. The late great grandfather of Minister Thondaman, Savumiamoorthy Thondaman, was an iconic plantation Tamil leader and trade unionist, and the party he founded continues to advocate for the welfare and rights of the workers in the region. The Indian grant, therefore, signifies a significant step towards addressing the needs and aspirations of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka’s estate areas, reflecting the duty of care owed by the governments of India and Tamil Nadu.