Sri Lankan President promises a pension to members of the Civil Defence Force

President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa says that a pension scheme would be introduced to the members of the Civil Defence Force. Rajapaksa has made this statement in a visit to Anuradhapura to open a monument for the war heroes of the Civil Defence Force.
The President has said that a pension similar to the one provided to members of the three armed forces and the police would be provided to the Civil Defence Force as well. There are 41,500 members in the country's Civil Defence Force. All members are volunteers deployed in their home towns and villages, to provide security to the civilian population. Members of the Force played an important role in providing security to the border villages threatened by the Tamil Tiger terrorists during the war.