Early political work James and Siva Obeyesekere, supported their kinsmen,
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike when he left the
United National Party and formed the
Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1951, becoming founding members. She assisted her husband in his unsuccessful campaign for the
Mirigama electorate in the
1952 general election and in the successful campaign for the
Attanagalla electorate in the
1960 July general election. James Obeyesekere would serve as the
Parliamentary Secretary of Health and Finance, thereafter he was appointed to the
Senate of Ceylon in 1965.
Handicraft industry When James Obeyesekere was the member of parliament for Attanagalla from 1960 to 1965, Siva Obeyesekere organized community health programmes in 127 villages in the Attanagalle electorate and actively began to develop handicraft and handloom centres. In 1961, she was appointed chairman of the Small Industries Board. In 1963, she was appointed the chairman of the Accommodation Committee and a member of the Tourist Development Council that drafted the Tourist Development Act. In 1964, she started the Laksala, which was the first Government Cottage Industries Emporium and became the chairman of its advisory board. She also established the Craftsman's Association of Sri Lanka promoting the Master Craftsman's Apprenticeship Scheme. In 1973, she was elected president of the National Artisans and Craftsman's Association.
Parliament and Minister She contested the
Mirigama electorate in the
1965 general election from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and won the seat defeating
Wijayabahu Wijayasinha and entered parliament. She retained her seat in the
1970 general election defeating Professor
W. S. Karunaratne. She was appointed
Parliamentary Secretary of Health by
Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1970 and was promoted to Minister of Health in 1976 succeeding
George Rajapaksa. During her tenure, she introduced the National Family Health Programme, which was later adopted by the United Nations as an international model. Senator
Edward Kennedy gave her a special award of appreciation for her efforts. In 1973, she was elected vice president of the Status of Women in Family Planning conference in
Djakarta and lead the Sri Lankan delegation to the World Population Conference in
Bucharest. She was elected vice president of the World Health Organization Conference in
Geneva in 1977. However, she was defeated in the
1977 general election in the landslid victory of the United National Party. ==Later work==