President Maithripala Sirisena, speaking at an event held at the Weber Stadium in Batticaloa on 3 March, made a pledge to implement a programme that would provide job opportunities to all unemployed graduates within the next six months.

He noted that the government was focussed on implementing new policies and plans to enact changes in the educational system, and that graduates would be recruited to fill vacancies in state and provincial institutions.

The president also stated that two Presidential Task Forces would be formed to make development activities in the north and east more efficient, and promised to expedite stalled road development projects in the Eastern Province.