Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit

Inaugurated on 12 July 1984,[2] Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුද්ධ හමුදා සේවා වනිතා ඒකකය, romanized: śrī laṁkā yuddha hamudā sēvā vanitā ēkakaya )[3] 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[4][2] functioning under the patronage of the wives of the respective regimental commanders.

Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit
Seva Vanitha Unit President with the presidents of Regimental Branches
Active1984 – present
CountrySri Lanka
BranchSri Lanka Army
TypeWelfare
Garrison/HQArmy Headquarters
Commanders
PresidentSajeewa Nelson[1] (Commander of the Army Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva's wife)
Sri Lanka Army
Components
History
Equipment
Personnel
Welfare

Projects

Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit conducts various welfare projects such as Viru Kekulu pre-schools, daycare centres, welfare shops, bakeries and salons,[5] 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.[5]

Branches

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

Former Presidents
Name Husband (Commander of the Army) Took Office Left Office
Sonia Weeratunge[1] General Tissa Weeratunga VSV 12 July 1984 11 Feb 1985
Mala Seneviratne[1] General Nalin Seneviratne VSV 12 Feb 1985 15 Aug 1988
Ira Wanasinghe[1] General Hamilton Wanasinghe VSV 16 Aug 1988 15 Nov 1991
Thilaka Waidyarathna[1] General Cecil Waidyaratne VSV 16 Nov 1991 31 Dec 1993
Lalitha De Silva[1] General G. H. De Silva RWP, VSV, USP 01 Jan 1994 30 Apr 1996
Jayanthi Daluwatta[1] General Rohan Daluwatte RWP, RSP, VSV, USP 1 May 1996 15 Dec 1998
Dilhani Weerasooriya[1] General C. S. Weerasooriya RWP, RSP, VSV, USP 16 Dec 1998 24 Aug 2000
Gnana Balagalle[1] General Lionel Balagalle RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP 25 Aug 2000 30 Jun 2004
Sonia Kottegoda[1] General Shantha Kottegoda WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP 1 July 2004 05 Dec 2005
Anoma Fonseka[1] General Sarath Fonseka RWP, RSP, VSV, USP 06 Dec 2005 15 July 2009
Manjulika Jayasuriya[1] General Jagath Jayasuriya VSV, USP 16 July 2009 16 July 2009
Damayanthi Ratnayake[1] General Daya Ratnayake WWV, RWP, RSP, USP 01 Aug 2013 21 February 2015
Nayana De Silva[1] General Crishantha de Silva RWP, USP 22 Feb 2015 14 July 2017
Chandrika Senanayake[1] General Mahesh Senanayake RWP, RSP, VSV, USP 14 July 2017 18 Aug 2019
Sajeewa Nelson[1] Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva WWV, RWP, RSP, USP 18 Aug 2019 Incumbent

References
  1. "Army Seva Vanitha Branch". alt.army.lk. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  2. "About Us: Army Seva Vanitha Unit". alt.army.lk. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  3. "Welcome to Army Seva Vanitha Unit". alt.army.lk. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  4. "Sri Lanka Army". www.army.lk. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  5. "About Us: Army Seva Vanitha Unit". alt.army.lk. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  6. "About Us: Army Seva Vanitha Unit". alt.army.lk. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
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