COLOMBO, June 4 -- Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said that many inmates in Sri Lanka's prisons are products of failed early childhood development, stressing that society must play a greater role in preventing crime and reducing the demand for illegal drugs.

Speaking at the launch of an Early Childhood Development Program for children under five living with incarcerated mothers, the minister said rehabilitation and the protection of vulnerable children must remain a national priority.

The program, implemented through the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration, was launched at the Thimbirigasyaya Divisional Secretariat in Colombo.

"It is our respon...