Government servants’ salaries can’t be paid before New Year - Vajira

The salaries and allowances of 550,000 government servants of 09 Provincial Councils and 341 Local Government bodies could not be paid prior to the Sinhala and Hindu News Year, said Minister of Internal & Home Affairs and Provincial Councils & Local Government Vajira Abeywardena.

He said this has arisen as a result of the defeat of expenditure heads of the relevant institutes on March 28, according to the Minister of Internal & Home Affairs and Provincial Councils & Local Government.

However, at the time the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Internal & Home Affairs and Provincial Councils & Local Government had been passed, but when the expenditure heads of the Immigration and Emigration Department, Department of registration of persons, the Registrar General’s Department and several other District Secretariats were in the process of being passed, the opposition asked for a vote, resulting in the inability to pay the advance and any other payments of 09 Provincial Councils and 341 Local Government bodies for work completed and work in progress, after April 05th.

In addition, when the Sinhala and Hindu New Year is just around the corner, the SLPP-MPs have put the almost 550,000 government employees in dire trouble as their salaries and allowances are in jeopardy as a result.

Therefore, the Minister said that unless the SLPP corrects their mistake, all institutions which they hold power would come to a standstill and they would have to take the responsibility for it.

Although the budget is presented in December, this time the budget had to be presented close to the Sinhala and Hindu New Year, in a situation as this, as the salaries and allowances of these government servants would be held up for months, it is a very unfair and unacceptable situation they face.