Following a strike last week, Grama Niladhari (GN) officers around the country are once again planning to engage in Trade Union (TU) action this week as the Government continues to remain silent regarding their demands.
All-Island Grama Niladhari Officers’ Association General Secretary Jagath Chandralal told The Sunday Morning that officers around the country had withdrawn from their duties on Monday (6) and Tuesday (7) demanding a number of changes. “However, we received no response from the Government and we are discussing with the trade unions associated with us to embark on TU action next week again,” said Chandralal.
He said that the only response the Government had been consistently giving when faced with their demands for urgent action was that the service constitution for GN officers was about 90% ready.
“Home Affairs State Minister Ashoka Priyantha has been saying this for the past two years. They will say this until Parliament is dissolved and then tell us they couldn’t get it done because of the dissolution. We won’t accept that,” he further said.
Service constitution
Chandralal said that one of their primary demands centred around the need for a proper service constitution for GN officers which would clearly outline their duties and responsibilities.
“The service constitution has been one of our demands for about 15 years. The GN position was formed by the Government in 1963 and since then, there has been no service constitution for us.”
He said that the lack of a service constitution had led to a twofold problem. “Firstly, our duties are sometimes given to other Government officers on an ad hoc basis. For example, duties that fall under development or ‘Samurdhi’ were on previous occasions given to other officers under new positions created by various governments.
“On the one hand, this increases the number of Government workers, driving up the Government service burden. On the other hand, when those officers don’t work properly or their roles are not supported enough to function properly, the ultimate burden falls on the shoulders of GN officers. We then end up doing the work that other people are paid to do,” said Chandralal.
He added that they were prepared to do their duty, but emphasised that these duties should not be taken away and given to other officers in an ad hoc manner.
Salary
The second issue raised by the association was that of salaries, with Chandralal noting that GN officers were committed to a service similar to that of doctors but without fair compensation.
“We work around the clock, seven days a week like doctors. If there is a sudden death or emergency in our area, we are bound to go. If someone wants a character certificate to enter a job, we have to provide it at a moment’s notice. If the law calls us into court cases, we are bound to go. We need to see a similar salary too then,” said Chandralal, adding that they were currently in the same salary band as Government clerks. “We need our own band,” he said.
Chandralal further highlighted that a Cabinet paper had already been presented for both of the above demands – a service constitution and a separate salary band – in 2019, but that no progress had been made since then.
“Currently a second-grade GN officer receives a basic salary of Rs. 28,940. With allowances, this does not even amount to Rs. 40,000. How can we even look after a family with this? Government statistics have shown recently that an individual needs Rs. 17,000 per month to live. At this rate, we can only look after our spouse but not grow a family or have children.”
He emphasised that their strike action had come after a lengthy period of patience: “This was our final resort. We continued to work because we were sympathetic to the general public but Government authorities are seeing our sympathy as an act of weakness.”
Allowances
Meanwhile, according to the association, allowances are dismal at the moment and are not sufficient to carry out their duties.
“We get a transport allowance of Rs. 600, which is not even enough for two litres of petrol per month. We get Rs. 1,500 for office supplies annually, but that isn’t enough to even buy two packets of A4 sheets which the public needs. The Government once said that it would increase that amount to Rs. 3,000, but this has not happened yet.”
Additionally, Chandralal said that they were given Rs. 1,000 to maintain an office space at the village level and Rs. 1,500 to do the same at an urban level (within municipal council limits).
“They said they would increase this amount to Rs. 3,000, but can we get a room or even a square foot for Rs. 3,000 within municipal council limits? We don’t even want an increase in benefits; at least build an office space for us or conduct a proper study to identify the required quotations so that we can conduct our duties properly.”
Govt. stance
In March, State Minister Priyantha stated that the service constitution, a primary concern of GN officers, had already been drafted and presented to the Cabinet. He added that it would be taken forward once approved.