Ranasinghe Premadasa - Political Career

Political Career

Premadasa's entry into politics was made from the Labour Party, then headed by A. E. Goonesinha. Having realized that the Labour Party in the 1950s didn't have a very promising future, Premadasa joined the moderate United National Party, and became the first non-Govigama politician to reach to the highest levels in democratic, post-independence Sri Lanka.

During his tenure as Minister of Broadcasting in Dudley Senanayake's cabinet, Premadasa turned Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia, into a public corporation - the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation on 5 January 1967.

Part of his political program was shelter for the poor, after the United Nations declared a Year of Shelter. Other policies included Jana Saviya, the instrument he used to help the poor, a foster parents scheme, the Gam Udawa project with which he tried to stir up the stupor in the villages, the mobile secretariat whereby he took the central government bureaucracy to the peasants, the Tower Hall Foundation for drama and music, and the pension schemes he initiated for the elder artistes. On the economic front, the garment industry project that he initiated became a forerunner in earning foreign exchange and provision of employment in the villages. This was just one step in the direction of taking the economy to the outstations.