 In October 2000 Kumaratunga appointed Devananda as Minister of Development, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the North, and Tamil Affairs, North and East.He lost his ministerial post following the change of government in December 2001 but was reappointed Minister of Agriculture, Marketing Development, Hindu Education Affairs, Tamil Language & Vocational Training Centres in North when the United People's Freedom Alliance, the successor to the PA, returned to power in April 2004.He was appointed Minister for Social Service and Social Welfare by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2005.