The Prime Minister made these comments while participating in the ceremony held at the Ratnapura Provincial Council Auditorium on 29.06.2024 to grant permanent appointments to employees in the Ratnapura district. To the 8435 employees who were confirmed in the local government institutions throughout the island.
The Prime Minister further commenting stated that…
“It was concluded that the number of employees in the public services was excessive. Therefore, the Treasury has advised the governments to reduce the number of public employees. Attention was paid to this issue during the crisis our country faced two years ago. Internationally, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund told us to reduce the number of employees as much as possible. We didn’t become a country that has sacked employees according to those instructions. That’s the difference between this government and other countries in the world that have faced this kind of crisis.
Spain is a rich country in Europe; A European GB country with a great tourist arrivals. During the economic crisis, they first stopped paying pensions. Secondly, forty percent of public servants were sacked. They were not paid. Portugal also faced the same crisis. Then it was Greece. Greece was told to cut government employees by half and to give pensioners half of their pensions. It was said that the next step will be discussed only after following those steps.
Even though such proposals came to our country, we were able to prepare our own programme and maintain services by paying salaries to pensioners and all the employees in government departments, provincial council departments and local government institutions on time. Today we have reached an important juncture in our programme of maintaining services by looking for new opportunities and creating stability for you and the pensioners.
You are winning a major victory in the field of local government. We have limited spending power. Due to the proper management of the state income, it has been possible to make progress compared to last year and move toward by granting reliefs this year. The time of disbelief has ended and the time of trust has been established. I believe that through the full rights and achievements you have received, you will continue to provide your services to the people.”
Governor of the Sabaragamuwa Province Navin Dissanayake, State Ministers Janaka Wakkumbura, Ashoka Priyantha, Member of Parliament Yadamini Gunawardena, Public Secretary to the Ministry of Administration Pradeep Yasaratne and other government officials, regional public representatives and appointees joined this event.
