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Station Masters allege unfair OT payments by Railways Dept.

26 Sep 2022

By Buddhika Samaraweera   The Sri Lanka Railway Station Masters’ Union (SLRSMU) claimed that the Department of Railways is making unfair and unnecessary overtime (OT) payments to employees attached to certain sections, and that this has chiefly contributed to the department becoming a loss-making institution. Speaking to The Morning, SLRSMU General Secretary Kasun Chamara said: “For a long time, the employees of some sections of the Railways Department have been paid unlimited OT allowances. It is possible to stop these unnecessary payments If the Department has the need to do so. However, instead of stopping the payment of unlimited OT allowances, the department is continuing to function as a loss-making institution.” He further said that when incumbent State Minister of Investment Promotion Dilum Amunugama held the position of State Minister of Transport, the latter had instructed the relevant officials of the department to prepare a report regarding the OT payments to employees. However, he said, two members of the five-member committee have not signed its final report so far, so the relevant report has not yet reached the relevant institutions, including the Transport Ministry. “In February this year, we, as the SLRSMU, lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) regarding the unlimited payment of OT allowances to certain employees of the department. Accordingly, the CIABOC has informed us in a letter that the investigation regarding the complaint is ongoing. If the payment of OT in this way is not stopped, the Railways Department will become an institution that will make losses even more so in the future.” said Chamara. Railways Department General Manager W.A.D. Gunasinghe was not available for comment.  Meanwhile, Minister of Transport Dr. Bandula Gunawardana stated in Parliament last week that out of the Rs. 2.6 billion income received by the Railways Department last year, Rs. 2.3 billion have been spent on OT payments to the Department's employees. He also said that the total amount spent last year for the payment of employee salaries was Rs. 7 billion, and added that since it is not possible to run the Railways Department in this way, it was decided to double the train fares.


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