The distinct honour of this path-breaking event fell on Ven. Uduwe Dammaloka Thera, monk MP of the Jathika Hela Urumaya yesterday when he steered the sittings during a private members motion.
The Thera, who is in the midst of a party crisis, was offered the chair by Deputy Speaker Geethanjana Gunewardana, during a debate on a motion to pay an honorarium to daham pasal teachers.
When the Jatika Hela Urumaya's Ven. Athuraliye Ratana Thera was holding the floor Ven. Dhammaloka Thera chaired the proceedings. The monk MP while hailing the event said it was an honour.
The private members motion was moved by UNP's Ravi Karunanayake who said that an honorarium should be paid to daham pasal teachers by the Education Ministry for the service done by them.
"There are 26,000 Sunday schools and around 130,000 teachers. They do a voluntary service and if not for their commitment, the schools would have died a natural death," he said.
The MP said the UNP regime paid insurance premiums on behalf of daham pasal teachers covering life and accident risks. He called on the government to resume the practice again as it had been stopped.
