The Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa requested the Government to give an adequate travel allowance to Grama Niladhari (GN) officials considering the rising fuel prices.
Raising a question under Standing Orders 27/2, the Opposition Leader said, “Grama Niladhari officials have pointed out that due to the rapidly rising fuel prices, the travel allowance given to the village officers in their field work is not sufficient at all. Does the government accept that the allowance is not enough in the current situation? If so, will there be an adequate allowance for that in the future?”
The Opposition Leader also requested the government to take swift measures to resolve the long standing problems suffered by the Grama Niladhari service.
“Grama Niladhari is the closest village level government official to the public, and on two occasions I worked to draw the government’s attention to the problems faced by them and their demands. One of their main demands was to establish a separate service constitution. In reply to that, the minister in charge at that time said that the Cabinet had approved a service constitution, and that it had been drafted and submitted to the Salary Commission for further work. However the process has no progress since then. I am kindly requesting the government to pay special attention to this matter and provide immediate solutions.” Premadasa said.
“What is the current progress in drafting a new service constitution for the post of village officer? What are the reasons for spending so much time on this? How much more time will it take? Does the government accept that the officers who work in the office and in the field have been placed in an incompatible salary category in the establishment of the fixed salary according to the 06/2006 salary revision? So, what is the government’s position regarding the establishment of the right salary category in future?” Premadasa questioned.
Add new comment