Charitha Herath, (PhD)

Participated and spoke at a public seminar organized by the Mahajana Wedikawa platform in Gampaha yesterday. A valuable discussion with engaged citizens on the challenges ahead and the path forward for our country. #SriLanka #Gampaha #PublicDialogue #MahajanaWedikawa

As always, engaging with people remains at the heart of democratic politics. While the outcome of the last election did not favour voices like ours, my commitment to public engagement has never wavered. Democracy is not only about electoral victories; it is about continuous dialogue, listening, and learning from the people we represent. I have been consistently on the ground—listening to concerns, sharing ideas, and understanding the realities people face in their daily lives. These conversations are essential for shaping meaningful and responsible political action. Today, being Sunday, I spent time in Katugampola, once again connecting with friends, supporters, and the wider community. Such engagements remind me that politics, at its core, is about people—their aspirations, their challenges, and their hopes for the future. #Democracy #PublicEngagement #ListeningToPeople #SriLanka #Katugampola

🌙 Ramadan Kareem 🌙 As the blessed month of Ramadan begins, may it bring peace, compassion, and spiritual renewal to all. May this sacred time strengthen our faith, deepen our sense of humanity, and inspire us to extend kindness and generosity to those around us. Let us embrace the values of patience, humility, and unity, and work together to build a more just and caring society. Wishing everyone a month filled with blessings, reflection, and harmony. ✨ Ramadan Mubarak to all! ✨ #Ramadan #RamadanKareem #RamadanMubarak #Peace #Unity #Compassion #srilankanews

Now this message came

Trying to get the fuel pass QR… and this is what I keep getting 🤦‍♂️ “Registration Failed – A mismatch in the vehicle number, chassis number or the vehicle type is indicated.” Entered everything exactly as per the documents, still no luck. Is anyone else facing the same issue? Any workaround or solution would be really helpful. At this rate, getting the QR feels harder than getting fuel itself 😅 #FuelPass #SriLanka #TechIssues #PublicServices #NeedHelp

@Muzain86 Tried and didnt work. Thanks for the note

@charith9 Try "-" (dash) on chassis number

True. It does not work for new ID numbers . @anuradisanayake @Dr_HariniA @HMVijithaHerath @BimalRathnayake

This morning I had a very pleasant and meaningful telephone conversation with Mr. Leel Gunasekara, a very senior and respected gentleman of our country. Now in his late 80s, Mr. Gunasekara remains intellectually sharp and full of fascinating memories about Sri Lanka’s history, politics, literature, and cultural life. Our discussion was long and deeply engaging. He also shared interesting recollections from the time when he worked as a senior officer in the Ministry of Cultural Affairs while my relative I. M. R. A. Iriyagolle served as Minister, during the government led by Dudley Senanayake. Mr. Gunasekara had an illustrious career in the Sri Lankan Administrative Service. He served as Government Agent in several districts including Kegalle, later became Director of Cultural Affairs, and retired as Secretary to the Cabinet. After retirement he continued to serve internationally with UNESCO in Paris and ESCAP in Bangkok. His daughter Manju Gunasekara was my junior by two years at the Department of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Peradeniya. She later joined the department as a lecturer, and interestingly we both pursued our master’s degrees in the United States during the same period. Although our homes are only about two kilometres apart in Colombo, today’s long telephone conversation turned out to be truly remarkable and educative. I wished him good health and promised to visit him soon for a longer evening discussion. I am sharing here a photograph taken when I met him a few years ago. #charitha_herath #SriLanka #PublicService #SriLankanHistory #AdministrativeService #Leadership #GoodGovernance #SriLankanPolitics #HistoryMatters #IntellectualConversations #LearningFromThePast #WisdomOfExperie

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the launch of “Transforming Education: The Way Forward in Sri Lanka” by Prof. Gunapala Nanayakkara at the BMICH. The book makes a timely contribution to the ongoing national conversation on education reform in Sri Lanka. At a moment when countries are rethinking how education systems should respond to rapid technological, economic, and social change, reflections such as these are particularly important. Prof. Nanayakkara’s work invites policymakers, educators, and researchers to think seriously about how Sri Lanka can transform its education system to better prepare future generations. It was encouraging to see academics, policymakers, and education practitioners coming together to discuss the future direction of education in our country. #Education #SriLanka #EducationPolicy #EducationReform

Honoured to participate in the launch of the book Science Diplomacy: National, Regional and Global Approaches in a Changing World, edited by Palitha Kohona and Ranjith Senaratne. The event, held at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS), brought together scholars, diplomats, and policy thinkers to reflect on the growing importance of science diplomacy in shaping international cooperation in an increasingly complex global landscape. A timely and valuable contribution to discussions on how science, policy, and diplomacy intersect in addressing global challenges. #ScienceDiplomacy #SriLanka #BookLaunch #BCIS #ForeignPolicy #GlobalCooperation #KnowledgeDiplomacy #PolicyDialogue #InternationalRelations #AcademicDialogue #Diplomacy #ThinkTanks #GlobalAffairs

Listening to @Geoffrey_Cox in the British Parliament is a masterclass in parliamentary oratory. Democracies thrive when legislatures value intellect, preparation, and courage in debate. We too must learn — and unlearn — how to cultivate such talent in Parliament. @ParliamentLK #lka #ParliamentNews #Srilanka

I'm not an atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written these books. It does not know-how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws. — Albert Einstein

A pleasant Sunday afternoon well spent. Had some free time today and enjoyed a very interesting and engaging conversation over coffee with my long-time friend, Prof. A. G. Amarasinghe. We were in the same batch at the University of Peradeniya, and our academic journeys began around the same time when we joined the university system—myself at Peradeniya and Amare at the University of Kelaniya. Interestingly, we both went on to become professors in our respective fields in the very same year. It turned out to be a productive and thoroughly enjoyable evening—reminiscing about university days, sharing thoughts on friends, politics, and academia, and reflecting on how far the journey has taken us. Conversations like these remind us how valuable long-standing friendships and intellectual exchanges truly are. #SundayConversations #CoffeeAndConversations #AcademicLife #UniversityMemories #Peradeniya #Kelaniya #Friendship #Academia #IntellectualExchange #SundayReflections #SriLanka #UniversityLife

දේශපාලනය සහ නව මාධ්‍ය -අපේ රටේබ්දේශපාලන නායකයින්ගේ ප්‍රකාශ කීපයක් පිළිබදව මේ දිනවල මාධ්‍ය අවකාශයේ සිදුවන සාකච්ජා කීපයක් දෙස බැලීමෙන් මේ අදහස කියන්නට සිතුනේ. මේ ප්‍රකාශ කීපය පිළිවෙලින් මෙසේය. - ජනාධිපති අනුර දිසානායක මහතාගේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු කථාව තුළ 'රට හුණ්ඩුවක්' යැයි කීම - විපක්ෂ නායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාගේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු කථාව තුළ 'සබ්මැරීනයේ වර්ගය ඇසීම' - විදේශ ඇමති විජිත හේරත් මහතාගේ ඉන්දියානු සාකච්ජාව තුළ 'ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා නොහැකියාව' බරපතල ආකාරයෙන් මතුවීම යන ඒවාය. මා උත්සාහ කරන්නේ මේ සිදුවීම් තුනෙන්ම දේශපාලන අපහාසයක් හෝ වාසියක් ගොඩ නගන්නට නොවේ. මට කියන්නට අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ මේ සිදුවීම් තුනෙන් දේශපාලනය කරන අය ඉගෙන ගත යුතු වැදගත් කාරණා රාශියක් තිබිය හැකි අතර ඒවා අතරින් මාධ්‍යය සහ දේශපාලනය අතර සම්බන්ධතාවේ නව තත්වය තේරුම් ගැනීම ඉතාමත් වැදගත් එකක් බවයි. -දේශපාලනය සහ මාධ්‍ය අතර පැරනි කාලයේ තිබුනු passive සම්බන්ධතාවය මේ වන විට සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ම නිමා වී ඇත. ඒ කියන්නේ දැන් තිබෙන්නේ මීට පෙර කාලවල තිබූ අකාරයයේ 'දේශපාලන අවකාශයේ සහ මාධ්‍ය අවකාශය' අතර වක්‍ර සම්බන්ධතාවක් නොවේ. එය දැන් ඍජු සම්බන්ධතාවක් බවට පත් වී ඇත. ඒ නිසාම දේශපාලන සිදුවීමක් හා එය ප්‍රචාරය/මුද්‍රණය වෙන කාලය අතර තිබු පරතරය දැන් නිමා වී ඇති අතර මීට පෙර කාලයේ සිටි passive receiver නිමා වී active participant කෙනෙකු බවට ද පත් වී ඇත. - වත්මන් ඩිජිටල් මාධ්‍ය අවකාශය යනු සංවාදයට සහභාගි වන සියල්ලන් ම මාධ්‍යවේදීන් වන තරමට මාධ්‍ය සාමාන්‍යකරණය වී ඇති තත්වයකි. මේ තත්වය තුළ දේශපාලනය ස්ථානගත්වී තිබෙන්නේ රටේ/ ලෝකයේ සෑම තැනම විසිරුණු කැමරා ෆෝන් පද්ධතියක් හමුවේ සහ 24/7 ක්‍රියාත්මක සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ජාලයක් තුල සිදුකරන රංගනයක් වැනි තත්වයකි. - මේ තත්වය තේරුම් ගන්නේ නැතිව දැන් කාටවත් දේශපාලනය කළ නොහැකිය. තමන් කථා කරන්නේ මොනවාද යන්න පමණක් නොව කථා කරන භාෂාව , කථා කරන වචන, උච්චාරණයේ ස්වභාවය, අභිනයන් වැනි සෑම කලාපයක් පිලිබදව අවධානය යොමු කළ යුතු තැනකට දේශපාලනය පත්වී ඇත. ඇමරිකාව , එංගලන්තය වැනි රටවල දේශපාලනය කරන අය මේ තත්වය තේරුම් ගෙන ඇති නිසා ඒ රටවල දේශපාලනය යනු මහන්සි වී කළ යුතු වෘත්තීය ක් බවට පත්වී ඇත. policy advisors, media advisors, researchers වැනි නිලතලවල සිටින ප්‍රවීනයන් කියන දෙයින් පිට වචනයක් වත් ඒ රටවල දේශපාලන නායකයින් කියන්නේ නැත. - මෙරට දේශපාලනය ත් හුදු කයිවාරුකාරයන්ගේ job එකක් නොවන තැනට පත්කළ යුතුය. නායකයින් කථා කළයුත්තේ 'පිටපතට අනුව' මිස කටට එන පලියට නොවේ. -ජනාධිපති/විපක්ෂ නායක/ විදේශ ඇමති කථා සම්බන්ධයෙන් රටේ ඇතිවී තිබෙන සාකච්ජාවන් ගෙන් ඉගෙන ගත යුතු කාරණය එයයි. - චරිත හේරත් 7/මාර්තු 2026

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the strength, courage, and wisdom of women who shape our families, communities, and nations. From mothers and daughters to leaders, scholars, and workers across every field — women continue to inspire progress, resilience, and compassion in our society. Their voices, ideas and leadership are essential in building a more just and inclusive future. Let us renew our commitment to equality, dignity, and opportunity for every woman and girl. Wishing a meaningful International Women’s Day to all the remarkable women who make our world stronger every day. 🌸 #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2026 #WomenEmpowerment #GenderEquality #WomenLeadership #srilankanews

The President says the current gas concerns are due to long-term storage limitations inherited from successive governments. Yes — storage capacity matters. But that raises a more important question. If inadequate storage is a structural national vulnerability, where is the concrete plan to fix it? Serious energy-importing countries treat storage as a matter of national security. Members of the International Energy Agency maintain mandatory reserve targets. Japan holds extensive strategic reserves despite having almost no domestic energy resources. India has invested in phased expansion of its strategic petroleum reserves with clearly defined capacity targets. These are not reactive measures. They are deliberate policy commitments backed by budget allocations. Sri Lanka already went through a historic fuel crisis. We learned — painfully — what vulnerability looks like. So the real issue is not whether past governments failed. The real issue is this: • Has the current administration of Anura Kumara Dissanayake presented a costed, time-bound national energy storage expansion plan? • Is there a defined reserve target (in days of consumption)? • Is funding allocated in the national budget? • Is there a legislative framework to institutionalise a Strategic Petroleum Reserve system? If storage constraints are the explanation today, then storage expansion must be the policy priority tomorrow. Energy security cannot remain a retrospective justification. It must become a measurable, budget-backed commitment. The public deserves clarity — not only about the problem, but about the plan. #SriLanka #EnergySecurity #PublicFinance #Governance #Accountability

A quiet Sunday morning at my study — unwinding with the weekend newspapers. In public life, reflection is as important as action. @CharithaMedia @NexusLK #SundayReading #SundayReflections #InformedLeadership #PublicLife #PolicyAndPolitics #StayInformed

The reported Rs. 7.6 billion loss from substandard coal imports at the Ceylon Electricity Board raises serious governance concerns. Procurement failures of this scale do not happen in isolation. They reflect weak oversight, compromised standards, or systemic corruption. State institutions must operate on transparency, professional competence, and strict accountability — especially in sectors directly affecting national energy security and public finances. This is not about politics. This is about protecting public resources. #SriLanka #PublicFinance #EnergySecurity

Just returned home to Colombo after a full day of meetings in Katugampola — Sundays are always dedicated to public engagements in my electorate. On my way back, I passed the iconic R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, buzzing with energy for the much-awaited India–Pakistan T20 clash. The city feels alive tonight! Now finally settling in to catch the match. Cricket truly has a way of uniting passions across borders. 🏏