Kumudesh accuses govt. of ‘stealing’ from health workers

By Sujeeva Thathsara

President Anura Kumara Dissanaytake has effectively ‘pickpocketed’ the salaries of health professionals through this year’s Budget, the Association of Health Professionals has alleged.

According to the Association’s President, Ravi Kumudesh, the government has scrapped a long-planned management training programme that was developed over several years to improve the efficiency of supplementary medical services and reduce costs.

Kumudesh said that the Budget included significant reductions in allowances and overtime for health professionals. The special allowance, which has been paid for the past two decades for working on public holidays, has been reduced from 1 in 20 to 1 in 30 of their monthly salary. Meanwhile, the overtime payment for supplementary medical and nursing services, previously calculated at 1 in 160 of the monthly salary per hour, has been reduced to 1 in 200.

Additionally, service periods required for promotions have been extended. Previously granted after six years, promotions will now take 10 years, while those that took 12 years will now require 20. Kumudesh pointed out that under those revised conditions, a graduate entering the public sector would only receive their final promotion at retirement age.

He accused the current administration of implementing drastic changes that directly impact public sector workers, arguing that no other government would have introduced such measures after raising expectations among state employees.