Remedial measures for elderly artistes – Prime Minister

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that remedies will be taken to cope with difficulties faced by elderly artistes. He made these comments while participating in a ceremony to enrol artistes who have newly applied for the retirement programme for aged artists held at Temple Trees on Monday (8). The programme is implemented by the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation. The Premier also presented gifts to artistes for the New Year.

So far, a monthly retirement allowance of Rs.7,500 has been given to 102 selected elderly artistes. The Board of Trustees of the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation, which has met under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Chairman of the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation, has decided to increase the said allowance to Rs.10,000. Accordingly, from this month on, the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation will provide a retirement allowance of Rs.10,000 to 122 elderly artistes.

The Prime Minister also said: “It is a pleasure to meet you, who gave life to the culture and various art fields of this country, again. Your youth has expired with you. The Tower Hall Foundation pays you respect and we believe that in the future, it will be possible to further improve this process that was started with the hope of adding convenience to your life.

“The Board of Trustees discussed the financial hardships faced by the artistes and decided to increase the retirement allowance to overcome those hardships to some extent, in the face of the current economic crisis. More struggling artistes would be able to get enrolled in this retirement programme in the future.

The artistes of our country who have contributed the art in various fields have come from distant villages today. The Tower Hall Theatre Foundation should be appreciated for their annual donation of goods required to celebrate the New Year for the said artistes. The Government respects you all again.

Minister Vidura Wickramanayaka, Prime Minister’s Secretary Anura Dissanayake, Cultural Affairs Secretary Somaratne Vidanapathirana, Members of the Board of Trustees of Tower Hall Theatre Foundation, Tower Hall Theatre Foundation DG Dr. D. M. S. Dissanayake and a number of artistes participated.

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