By A Staff Writer
(Lanka-e-News -11.Aug.2025, 11.30 PM) They could have been dodging tear gas on the main road. Instead, a group of jobless graduates, soaked by rain, staged their protest first outside the Isurupaya Ministry of Education, then outside the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna headquarters in Pelawatte.
But public sympathy was in short supply. Responses on social media to video clips of the protest showed little patience for those still holding out for a government job, years after graduation.
It’s a far cry from the rallying cry of JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his allies on the campaign trail: Sri Lanka’s youth, they declared, needed to catch the “entrepreneurial madness” – the fever to start their own ventures. Gone, they argued, should be the days of queueing for a desk in a ministry.
The Malima faction even promised a new kind of bank — one that would dispense business loans without the usual collateral, approving applications purely on the strength of a viable project proposal. No deeds, no guarantors, just a plan.
Though the Malima administration didn’t allocate funds in the last budget, Industry Minister Sunil Handunnetti recently announced that provisions would be made in the next, with the “no-collateral bank” to launch next year.
As part of that pledge, the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development, together with the National Productivity Secretariat, yesterday announced a national programme to create 1,000 new entrepreneurs. The deadline for registration: 20 August 2025.
According to the statement, the initiative aims to strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by improving knowledge, skills, productivity, and export capacity, starting with a pilot scheme in Gampaha District. That trial produced 100 successful entrepreneurs and has now been deemed ripe for expansion islandwide.
The first phase will launch across 17 districts in 2025, with the remaining eight to follow by mid-2026. Participants will receive training, advisory services, and resources to help them grow sustainable businesses — in theory contributing to economic growth, job creation, and export earnings.
For more details, interested parties can contact Shyama Fernando on 077 66 13 042. Registration is open until 20 August 2025 via the official online form here.
Whether the “entrepreneurial madness” catches on, or the nation’s graduates continue to look longingly toward the public sector payroll, remains to be seen. But for now, Sri Lanka’s policymakers seem determined to turn tear gas targets into business owners.
By A Staff Writer
---------------------------
by (2025-08-11 19:30:28)
Read 14604 Times
Leave a Reply
0 discussion on this news