COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, June 19, 2001: Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, blaming the island’s low population rate for a shortage of Buddhist monks and soldiers, has urged Sri Lankans to have more children. Offering special bonuses as incentives, he advised citizens to disregard slogans promoting small families. He blamed Sri Lanka’s slow population growth, held up as a model among developing countries, for the failure of his recent drives to recruit 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 monks, the Sinhala-language “Divaina” reported.
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