Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit
# Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit

Inaugurated on 12 July 1984, the Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුද්ධ හමුදා සේවා වනිතා ඒකකය, romanized: śrī laṁkā yuddha hamudā sēvā vanitā ēkakaya ) 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 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, 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. The society of the wives of respective regimental commanders are also known as Regimental Ladies' Clubs.

## List of presidents

| Name | Husband (Commander of the Army) | Took office | Left office |
| - | - | - | - |
| Sonia Weeratunge | General Tissa Weeratunga VSV | 12 July 1984 | 11 Feb 1985 |
| Mala Seneviratne | General Nalin Seneviratne VSV | 12 Feb 1985 | 15 Aug 1988 |
| Ira Wanasinghe | General Hamilton Wanasinghe VSV | 16 Aug 1988 | 15 Nov 1991 |
| Thilaka Waidyarathna | General Cecil Waidyaratne VSV | 16 Nov 1991 | 31 Dec 1993 |
| Lalitha De Silva | General G. H. De Silva RWP, VSV, USP | 01 Jan 1994 | 30 Apr 1996 |
| Jayanthi Daluwatta | General Rohan Daluwatte RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 1 May 1996 | 15 Dec 1998 |
| Dilhani Weerasooriya | General C. S. Weerasooriya RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 16 Dec 1998 | 24 Aug 2000 |
| Gnana Balagalle | General Lionel Balagalle RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP | 25 Aug 2000 | 30 Jun 2004 |
| Sonia Kottegoda | General Shantha Kottegoda WWV, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP | 1 July 2004 | 05 Dec 2005 |
| Anoma Fonseka | General Sarath Fonseka RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 06 Dec 2005 | 15 July 2009 |
| Manjulika Jayasuriya | General Jagath Jayasuriya VSV, USP | 16 July 2009 | 16 July 2009 |
| Damayanthi Ratnayake | General Daya Ratnayake WWV, RWP, RSP, USP | 01 Aug 2013 | 21 February 2015 |
| Nayana De Silva | General Crishantha de Silva RWP, USP | 22 Feb 2015 | 14 July 2017 |
| Chandrika Senanayake | General Mahesh Senanayake RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | 14 July 2017 | 18 Aug 2019 |
| Sajeewa Nelson | General Shavendra Silva WWV, RWP, RSP, USP | 18 Aug 2019 | 31 May 2022 |
| Janaki Liyanage | Lt. General Vikum Liyanage RWP, RSP, ndu | 03 June 2022 | Incumbent |
