By Saman Indrajith
Schoolchildren and their parents could not afford books, stationery, etc., since the government had failed to maintain price controls, Parliament was told on Saturday.
Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella said that prices of books and stationery had increased by 300 percent.
Matara District SLPP MP Weerasumana Weerasinghe said that the country needed 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes of paper a year. “Paper prices have increased. In 2020, we imported 454,000 tonnes of paper. In 2021, we imported 469,000 tonnes of paper. We import around 90 percent of our paper requirement. Imposing cess on them will further increase the prices of stationery. Children on plantation and in rural areas find it difficult to continue with their school education. The rupee depreciation is not the sole reason for this situation. The prices of paper has galloped manifold than the depreciated value of the rupee against the dollar,” Dissanayake said.
Minister of State Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that cess on paper used as raw material to produce exercise books had not been increased.
SLPP dissident MP Dullas Alahapperuma said that 10 to 15 percent children had stopped going to school because of food shortage or non-availability of books or other problems such as transport costs. “A pair of shoes is over Rs 4,000. The price of a box of mathematical instruments is unaffordable. We must understand this crisis and find solutions rather than pointing our fingers at one another,” Alahapperuma said.