he future of 55 Sri Lankan Tamil children aged between 11 and 18 hangs in balance as the Kancheepuram district administration has launched probe into complaints that they were falsely labelled as refugees and war survivors to get admission in government and private schools at Acharapakkam in the district. There are 21 girls in this distressed group.

Agalawatte Plantations PLC’s sale that has drawn fire has seen a new twist to the drama with two ministries raising vital questions over not being consulted in the transaction and the non-payment of EPF dues of workers.  Last week (August 11), the Ministry of Plantation Industries sent a letter to Agalawatte Plantations clarifying how the transaction, now contested in court, went through without the golden shareholder’s nod. The ‘golden share’ in plantation companies is held by the government and has wide powers. The issue of non-payment of dues came in a May 16 letter by the Treasury to the plantation company querying Agalawatte’s liability of Rs. 413 million in EPF, around Rs. 90 million in gratuity dues to its employees and lease rental of around Rs. 170 million to the Ministry of Finance through the Plantation Management Monitoring Division (PMMD) of the Ministry of Plantation Industries.