The Sanvada Programme of the Pathfinder Foundation has scheduled a Community Meeting "Sanvada" on the New Company's Act to be held from 9.00 a.m to 12.30 p.m on Thursday October 11, 2007 at SLFI.

*Mr.Ariththa Wickremanayake 's analytical paper on new Company's Act.

Right to information is a fundamental right guaranteed in the international human rights law. This means that the general public should have access to information normally held by public authorities. In this highly technological era, right to information is vital than in any other period. If general public have sound access to information, it clearly displays the level of human rights in a society.  In reality, governments are more restrictive in releasing information to the general public. Successive governments in Sri Lanka have failed to introduce and implement the right to information legislation to the general public. The above views were highlighted at the 05th Sanvada/community meeting organized by the Pathfinder Foundation held on 4th of September, 2007 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.

The “Sanvada” Programme of the Pathfinder Foundation is organizing a stakeholder community meeting to discuss the  proposed Freedom of Information  Bill which has been considered by various Governments without being presented to the Parliament for discussion. This Meeting or Sanvada is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 4th September, 2007, from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.  Mr. Rohan Edrisinha, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives will be the keynote speaker.  The meeting, particularly the open discussion, after the comments by Mr. Muralidhar Reddy, the Colombo Correspondent of The Hindu Newspaper, is expected to generate a substantive discussion during the Open Forum.  This is the fifth of the series of studies and Community Meetings to be organized under the Sanvada Programme on a proposed legislation likely to be taken up by the Parliament.

Financial Times

The Open Budget Index (OBI) is the first index to rate countries on how to open their budget books to their citizens in which Sri Lanka ranks 47%, indicating some openness. According to the International Budget Project, headquartered in Washington DC, the Index is intended to provide citizens, legislators, and civil society advocates with the comprehensive and practical information needed to gauge a government's commitment to budget transparency and accountability. Armed with this kind of information, lenders, development advocates, and aid organizations can identify meaningful budget reforms needed in specific countries to combat corruption and strengthen basic services to improve people's lives.

A critical appraisal with reference to transparency and accountability

The  Pathfinder  Foundation under its  Sanvada  Programme has  organized  a  Community  Meeting (Sanvada )  on  the Transparency in Government Budget Making

Date:      Friday, 27th July, 2007 

Time:      9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

Venue:   Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo 7.

With simultaneous translation to Sinhala /Tamil/ English

Main presentation  -  Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, Ph.D

Private Sector Perspective - Manjula de Silva, MD, HNB Assurance

Chair and Observations - M.D.A. Harold, Transparency International
                                               Sri Lanka Chapter

Strongly recommend  prior registration by 4.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 25th  July,  2007, visiting  www.sanvada.org  or Tel:   011 4528090, Fax:   4528095,  e-mail:   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

As  seating capacity is limited kindly register early.