# Ministry of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage

The Ministry of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage is the central government ministry of Sri Lanka responsible for social services, social welfare and Kandyan heritage. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on social empowerment and welfare and other subjects which come under its purview. The current Minister of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage and Deputy Minister of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage are S. B. Dissanayake and Ranjan Ramanayake respectively. The ministry's secretary is Mahinda Seneviratne.

## Ministers

The Minister of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage is a member of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.

### Parties

Ceylon National Congress United National Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Eelam People's Democratic Party National People's Power
Ministers of Social Services :
| Name | Party | Took office | Left office | Head of government | Ministerial title |
| T. B. Jayah | | 26 September 1947 | 1950 | D. S. Senanayake | Minister of Labour and Social Services |
| Kanthiah Vaithianathan | | 1953 | 1953 | John Kotelawala | Minister of Housing and Social Services |
| Kanthiah Vaithianathan | | 1953 | | John Kotelawala | Minister of Industries, Housing and Social Services |
| T. B. Ilangaratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 12 April 1956 | | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour, Housing and Social Services |
| P. B. G. Kalugalla | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 9 June 1959 | | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | Minister of Cultural Affairs and Social Services |
| P. B. G. Kalugalla | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | | 8 December 1959 | W. Dahanayake | Minister of Cultural Affairs and Social Services |
| M. V. P. Peiris | | 23 March 1960 | 1960 | Dudley Senanayake | Minister of Health and Social Services |
| D. S. Goonesekera | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 28 May 1963 | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour and Social Services |
| Asoka Karunaratne | United National Party | | | Dudley Senanayake | Minister of Social Services |
| S. S. Kulatileke | | | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Social Services |
| Asoka Karunaratne | United National Party | 23 July 1977 | | J. R. Jayewardene | Minister of Social Services |
| Ranjit Atapattu | United National Party | 18 February 1989 | 5 January 1990 | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Labour and Social Welfare |
| D. B. Wijetunga | United National Party | 11 January 1990 | | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Labour and Social Welfare |
| A. M. S. Adhikari | United National Party | 30 March 1990 | 14 March 1991 | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Social Welfare |
| P. Dayaratna | United National Party | 14 March 1991 | | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Social Welfare |
| A. H. M. Fowzie | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 19 August 1994 | | D. B. Wijetunga | Minister of Health and Social Services |
| Milroy Fernando | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 19 October 2000 | | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Social Services and Fishing Community Housing Development |
| Nimal Siripala de Silva | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 14 September 2001 | | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine and Social Services |
| Sumedha G. Jayasena | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 10 April 2004 | | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Women's Empowerment and Social Welfare |
| Douglas Devananda | Eelam People's Democratic Party | 23 November 2005 | | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare |
| Felix Perera | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 23 April 2010 | | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Social Services |
| P. Harrison | United National Party | 12 January 2015 | 17 August 2015 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Social Services, Welfare and Livestock Development |
| S. B. Dissanayake | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 4 September 2015 | 22 May 2017 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare |
| S. B. Dissanayake | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 22 May 2017 | 12 April 2018 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage |
| Daya Gamage | United National Party | 20 December 2018 | 21 November 2019 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour, Trade Union Relations and Social Empowerment |
| Mahinda Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 1 June 2020 | 9 May 2022 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Minister of Community Empowerment and Estate Infrastructure Development |
| Ranil Wickremesinghe | United National Party | 21 July 2022 | 23 September 2024 | Ranil Wickremesinghe | Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment |
| Anura Kumara Dissanayake | National People's Power | 24 September 2024 | 18 November 2024 | Anura Kumara Dissanayake | Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment |
| Upali Pannilage | National People's Power | 18 November 2024 | Incumbent | Anura Kumara Dissanayake | Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment |

## Secretaries

Social Services Secretaries :
| Name | Took office | Title |
| W. Yamuna Chitrangani | 25 April 2010 | Social Services Secretary |
| D. K. R. Ekanayake | 19 January 2015 | Social Services, Welfare and Livestock Secretary |
| Mahinda Seneviratne | 8 September 2015 | Social Empowerment and Social Services Secretary |