Village Development
Anpuneri has under taken a village development project in Sri Lanka. The idea to develop a village was triggered when Honorable Member of Parliament Sathasivam Viyalentiran (Batticaloa, Sri Lanka) had a meeting with Anpuneri during his visit to Canada in 2016. He has assisted Anpuneri to carry out a preliminary study to identify a suitable village for this project. Based on this preliminary study, Panchenai from Batticaloa District in Sri Lanka has been selected by Anpuneri.
The objective of the project is to enable the village community to meet their very basic needs in economy, healthcare, education and infrastructure by mobilizing the community and other stakeholders towards a positive common action. A participatory planning is being exercised to identify needs of the community and priorities in an integrated manner. All stakeholders including village representatives, government & local administrative officials, infrastructure providers, and provincial & central government legislators will be engaged in planning and in the implementation stages to ensure that all available resources are utilized for the benefit of the village.
An organization called Anpuneri-Panchenai Village Development Society (Development Society) has been formed to oversee and implement this project. The Development Society has been formed with members from village representatives, government officials and well-wishers. The Development Society will assist Anpuneri in identifying the village needs sending proposal requests, managing the projects, and reporting on the progress and completion of the individual projects.
Anpuneri officials including Siva Gowripalan (President), Myuran Balasubramaniam (Former President and current Board Director), Killivalavan Chelliah (Former President and current Vice President), Vernu Sivakkolundu (Treasurer), Gnany Ratnam (Board Director) and Ravin Ratnasingam (Board Director) have made visits to Panchenai and participated in several meetings with the village residents and government officials for planning this project and for forming the Development Society.
The needs of the village will be addressed in two stages. Urgent needs will be addressed immediately, within six months. Medium to long term needs will be addressed within six months to five years. A strategic planning report will be prepared documenting how these medium to long term needs are going to be addressed.