Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit Explained

Unit Name:Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit
Dates:1984  - present
Country:Sri Lanka
Branch:Sri Lanka Army
Type:Welfare
Garrison:Army Headquarters
Commander1:Janaki Liyanage (Commander of the Army Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage's wife)
Commander1 Label:President

Inaugurated on 12 July 1984,[1] the Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit [2] functions with the main objective of providing welfare facilities to the family and relatives of service personnel who died, went missing in action or were injured whilst serving in the army in addition to empowering the families of the serving army personnel. Traditionally the organisation functions under the leadership of the wife of the serving Commander of the Army, and the members are the spouses of army officers as well as female officers. The organisation extends to 22 regimental branches[3] functioning under the patronage of the wives of the respective regimental commanders.

Projects

The Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit conducts various welfare projects such as Viru Kekulu pre-schools, daycare centres, welfare shops, bakeries and salons,[4] with the committed contribution of the dedicated membership. Construction of houses, endowment of educational scholarships and assisting in times of natural disasters, are done at both organisational and regimental levels. The volunteer service extended by the spouses of the army officers whilst multitasking at their roles as wives, mothers and professionals, is an immense strength to Sri Lanka Army.

Branches

All 22 regiments of the Sri Lanka Army have a Seva Vanitha branch. Those branches are led by the wives of respective regimental commanders.[5] The society of the wives of respective regimental commanders are also known as Regimental Ladies' Clubs.[6]

List of presidents

!Name!Husband (Commander of the Army)!Took office!Left office
Sonia Weeratunge[7] General Tissa Weeratunga VSV12 July 198411 Feb 1985
Mala SeneviratneGeneral Nalin Seneviratne VSV12 Feb 198515 Aug 1988
Ira WanasingheGeneral Hamilton Wanasinghe VSV16 Aug 198815 Nov 1991
Thilaka WaidyarathnaGeneral Cecil Waidyaratne VSV16 Nov 199131 Dec 1993
Lalitha De SilvaGeneral G. H. De Silva RWP, VSV, USP01 Jan 199430 Apr 1996
Jayanthi DaluwattaGeneral Rohan Daluwatte RWP, RSP, VSV, USP1 May 199615 Dec 1998
Dilhani WeerasooriyaGeneral C. S. Weerasooriya RWP, RSP, VSV, USP16 Dec 199824 Aug 2000
Gnana BalagalleGeneral Lionel Balagalle RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP25 Aug 200030 Jun 2004
Sonia KottegodaGeneral Shantha Kottegoda WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP1 July 200405 Dec 2005
Anoma FonsekaGeneral Sarath Fonseka RWP, RSP, VSV, USP06 Dec 200515 July 2009
Manjulika JayasuriyaGeneral Jagath Jayasuriya VSV, USP16 July 200916 July 2009
Damayanthi RatnayakeGeneral Daya Ratnayake WWV, RWP, RSP, USP01 Aug 201321 February 2015
Nayana De SilvaGeneral Crishantha de Silva RWP, USP22 Feb 201514 July 2017
Chandrika SenanayakeGeneral Mahesh Senanayake RWP, RSP, VSV, USP14 July 201718 Aug 2019
Sajeewa NelsonGeneral Shavendra Silva WWV, RWP, RSP, USP18 Aug 201931 May 2022
Janaki Liyanage[8] Lt. General Vikum Liyanage RWP, RSP, ndu3 June 2022Incumbent

See also

External links

References

  1. Web site: About Us: Army Seva Vanitha Unit. 2018-12-01. alt.army.lk.
  2. Web site: Welcome to Army Seva Vanitha Unit. 2018-12-01. alt.army.lk.
  3. Web site: Sri Lanka Army. 2018-12-01. www.army.lk. en.
  4. Web site: About Us: Army Seva Vanitha Unit. 2020-07-04. alt.army.lk.
  5. Web site: About Us: Army Seva Vanitha Unit. 2020-08-16. alt.army.lk.
  6. https://alt.army.lk/sevavanitha/branches.php
  7. Web site: Army Seva Vanitha Branch. 2020-08-16. alt.army.lk.
  8. Web site: 2022-06-06 . New President of Army’s Seva Vanitha Unit takes over . 2022-08-04 . The Morning - Sri Lanka News . en-US.