20.5 percent of the population in the Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province is beyond the poverty line, according to Sri Lankan Central Bank Advisor of the Poverty Abolishment Programme, R.Sri Pathmanathan. At an event held in Batticaloa last week, Mr. Sri Pathmanathan said Batticaloa district was one of the 14 poverty stricken districts in the island. The districts of Ki’linochchi, Vavuniyaa and Mullaiththeevu have not been included in the study, he said.
The population of the Batticaloa district is about 600,000.
Sri Lanka is one of 149 countries that had signed a UN convention in 2004 with the assurance that poverty in the island could be reduced to half in five years’ period by the end of 2015.
But the level of poverty level has been increasing even after seven years.
3.9 percent people in Colombo district are living under poverty line.
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