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Grama niladharis on strike demanding vaccine

27 May 2021

  • Withdraw from worker licensing, allowance distribution, vaccine registration

  • Dissatisfied with Home Affairs Ministry response

By Dinitha Rathnayake   As announced on 25 May, grama niladhari (GN) officers across the island launched an indefinite strike action against the Government yesterday (26) demanding the vaccination of their entire staff cadre against Covid-19. Speaking to The Morning, Sri Lanka Grama Niladhari Association (SLGNA) President Sumith Kodikara said the strike will continue until a final word regarding granting anti-Covid-19 vaccination for all GN officers in the country is given by the authorities. “We will withdraw from all our Covid-19-related duties, including the issuance of licenses for essential workers, providing and delivering the Rs. 5,000 allowance to low-income families, and registration of persons to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.” He said there are around 12,000 GN officers across the island and only 500 in the Western Province had received the first dose of the vaccine while others haven’t received a single dose. “Why aren’t we a part of the frontline workers and not being prioritised for Covid-19 vaccinations? Families of police officers, security force members, and the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) were administered the vaccine. State workers who work closely with the public, including GNs as well as divisional and district secretaries have been ignored in the vaccination programme,” Kodikara claimed. He noted that although the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a statement mentioning that the vaccination will be provided to them during the next stage of the vaccination drive, the SLGNA is not satisfied with the answer given by the Ministry and will therefore continue the strike until it receives a satisfactory response. In its statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs requested the Ministry of Health to give priority to the vaccination of district secretaries, divisional secretaries, GNs, development officers, and other field officers. Accordingly, giving priority to these groups, it has been confirmed that the vaccinations will be carried out on all relevant officials, the Ministry said. The GNs have requested Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs N.H.M. Chithrananda to provide the required services to the public in an efficient manner so that they could move ahead with the process without resorting to trade union protest actions. Meanwhile, the Consumer Co-ordinating Officers’ Association said that immediate steps should be taken to provide anti-Covid-19 vaccines to electrical workers as well. Its National Organiser Dileepa Sampath Bandara said that if no action is taken to vaccinate its officers before 31 May, they will engage in trade union protest action as well.


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