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Rs. 5,000 monthly allowance to government servants

03 Jan 2022

  • Follows agitation and threats of strikes by govt. servants
  • Demand was to increase salaries by at least Rs. 18,000
Following threats and a strike by government officers, demanding a salary hike of at least Rs. 18,000 to cover the rising cost of living, the Cabinet of Ministers decided yesterday (3) to award a Rs. 5,000 monthly special allowance to all public sector employees from January 2022. This was confirmed by Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa at a press conference held last night at the Ministry. However, it was unclear at the time of printing whether this would satisfy the demands of government servants. Minister Rajapaksa also said that public sector pensioners will receive a Rs. 5,000 special monthly allowance while Samurdhi beneficiaries will receive an additional monthly allowance of Rs. 1,000. More than 700,000 state sector employees attached to the Sri Lanka Government Officers’ Trade Union Association (SLGOTUA) were engaged in a one-day strike last month, claiming that the Government had not responded to their request to increase the salaries of public servants as a remedy to the rising cost of living. A protest was also held on the same day near the Parliament roundabout, with the participation of public servants representing a number of sectors. This was after warning that it would initiate trade union actions without giving notice, if the Government did not increase the salaries of public servants through the 2022 Budget. Pointing out further that the prices of essential items have increased several times during the past few months, the SLGOTUA had urged the Government to increase the salaries of public servants by at least Rs. 18,000. The SLGOTUA further warned last week that it would launch a series of long-term trade union actions in January 2022, including strikes, in protest over the Government’s failure to increase the salaries of public servants as a solution to the rising cost of living. Speaking to The Morning in late December, SLGOTUA National Organiser B.A.P. Basnayake said that despite numerous letters to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Finance Minister Rajapaksa, requesting an increase in the salaries of public servants by at least Rs. 18,000, through the budget proposal for 2022, the Government has so far failed to respond positively to their request. “By now, the prices of all goods and services have gone up. We, therefore, called for an increase in the salaries of public servants in line with the rising cost of living. We will wait until the end of this month to see if the Government will give us a positive response. If not, we have already decided to launch a series of long-term trade union actions in January 2022,” he said. Basnayake further said that the first of the said series of trade union actions would be a week-long strike action, which will be supported by SLGOTUA members belonging to several government institutions. He warned that if the Government would not provide them with a solution to the salary issue, even after the week-long strike, a continuous strike action will be launched in January itself. However, claiming that there is no possibility of raising the salaries of public servants under the present circumstances, Ministry of Finance and Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle recently called on public servants who are demanding a salary increase to suggest how to obtain the necessary monies to make such a hike. When contacted by The Morning in November to inquire as to whether the Ministry of Finance would consider SLGOTUA’s demand, Attygalle said: “It is not possible to do so because there is no provision in the Budget for such a salary increase at the moment. However, Basil Rajapaksa has asked the National Pay Commission to fast-track the designing of a new salary structure, considering the salary anomalies, etc. That is the only proposal as of now.” Speaking further, Attygalle added that a sum of Rs. 324 billion a year would be needed to increase the salaries of all public servants by at least Rs. 18,000, as the SLGOTUA has demanded. “There are 1.5 million public servants. It would cost Rs. 324 billion a year to increase their salaries by Rs. 18,000. At present, the Government spends only Rs. 1,000 billion to pay the total salaries,” he added. He also said that the only way to increase the salaries as demanded by public servants would be to increase the taxes across the board, adding: “Tell them to propose how to get the necessary money for it too.”


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