Hon. (Dr.) Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana

¶ 01 Sir, I rise to a point of Order.

¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Speaker, you will understand the point of Order I am raising. Since the Hon. Minister of Health is also in the House at this time, I am raising this matter. Hon. Deputy Speaker, both you and the Hon. Minister of Health, as doctors, know the situation. The overtime payment referred to as 80/1 paid for doctors’ extra duty has been reduced up to 120/1. As a young doctor yourself, you know what sort of salaries doctors receive. We remember that during the tenure of Keheliya Rambukwella as Minister of Health, when the retirement age of doctors was reduced from 60 to 55, there was a massive brain drain. Nearly 2,000 doctors left the country at that time. Vehicle permits are also not granted to doctors. The benefit they receive for a vehicle permit is very small, around Rs. 3 million in value, and they lose about Rs. 60,000 a month. They do not receive a transport allowance or a driver either. I make this request on behalf of all doctors in this country. I think we have to safeguard them.