Former MP Ranjan Ramanayake has commenced distributing the laptops he recently collected as donations in the US on behalf of underprivileged school children in Sri Lanka. Beginning the distribution drive, Ramanayake handed over three laptops to three children at his residence in Madinnagoda.

He is expecting to distribute 40 laptops in the first phase and donate a total of 15 000 by the end of the project.

Ranjan who was in the US recently on a tour said, at every event, he asked the organisers or Sri Lankan ex-pats to donate laptops to him to be distributed instead of handing over money to him.

“All these things are distributed to the children with transparency. This is being done to increase the information technology knowledge of Sri Lankan children and not to gain political advantage. Because I don't have a political party now. I am on the side of the people” he said.

Ranjan says he has been invited to many shows abroad and has already requested organisers to give him laptops as payment instead of cash so that they can be donated to children in Sri Lanka.