Ranjith Kanishka Parakrama Atapattu (29 April 1933 – 8 January 2018) was a Sri Lankan physician and politician. He was the

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

from 1982 to 1989 and Minister of Labour and Social Welfare from 1989 to 1990.

Biography

Ranjith Kanishka Parakrama Atapattu was born on 29 April 1933 in

Tangalle Tangalle ( Sinhala තංගල්ල , ) (also known as Tangalla) is a large town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is one of the largest towns in southern province. It is located south of Co ...

to Don Peter Atapattu and Daya Dahanayake. Don Peter was a Member of Parliament for the Beliatta electorate and Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Minister of State. He had one sister, Indrani who married and migrated to Australia. Between 1954 and 1960, Atapattu was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

and the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

, where he obtained a

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

. Atapattu was employed as Medical Officer between 1960 and 1966, before establishing his own general medical practice. Atapattu was first elected to parliament at the 8th parliamentary elections in July 1977, representing the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

in the Beliatta electorate, where he defeated the sitting member,

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

, by over 6,000 votes.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

, reluctant to give up the massive majority his party secured in 1977, held a referendum to cancel the 1983 parliamentary elections, and extend the life of the 1977 parliament until 1989. Jayewardene also decreed that all United National Party parliamentarians, whose electoral districts had not supported the referendum, would have to run in a by-election. Atapattu resigned from his seat on 10 February 1983, but was subsequently successful in the May 1983 by-elections, defeating Rajapaksa by nearly 3,000 votes. Atapattu was appointed the Minister for Colombo Group of Hospitals (a project Ministry under the Ministry of Health) in August 1978. He was then appointed as the

in the Jayewardene cabinet in 1982 and held the position until 1989. At the 1989 parliamentary elections, he ran as the United National Party candidate in the Hambantota electorate and was duly elected with 10,381 preference votes (18.35%), behind Rajapaksa's 13,073 preference votes (23.11%). In 18 February 1989, Atapattu was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Welfare as part of the Premadasa cabinet and held the position until 5 January 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atapattu, Ranjit 1933 births Sri Lankan Buddhists Alumni of Royal College, Colombo 2018 deaths Sinhalese people Sri Lankan medical doctors Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Health ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Non-cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka Labour ministers of Sri Lanka Social affairs ministers of Sri Lanka Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo)

Biography

See also

References