The Hon. (Ms.) Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney-at-Law
Hon. Lakmali Hemachandra clarified that the plantation daily wage of Rs. 1,750 does not require workers to complete 25 days of work, stating that Rs. 200 is an attendance incentive paid only for days worked in addition to the Rs. 1,550 wage. She said claims of a 25-day condition are due to misunderstanding or distortion. She also said labour law reform is being pursued through an inclusive process involving an expert committee, a draft for public and union comment, and consideration of fairness to both workers and employers, including greater women’s workforce participation.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you.
¶ 02 Hon. Sujith Sanjaya stated that to obtain the daily wage, 25 days must be worked. The government has corrected that repeatedly. There is no such condition. The plantation wage is a daily wage of Rs. 1,750. One must work on the day to obtain the daily wage; that is inherent to daily wages. In addition to Rs. 1,550, the government provides Rs. 200 as an attendance incentive. There is no condition that one must work 25 days. If 25 days are worked, Rs. 200 per day is paid; if not worked, the attendance incentive is not received for those days. Claims to the contrary stem from misunderstanding or deliberate distortion.
¶ 03 Finally, on labour law reform: there is much public misunderstanding. A few years ago, a forcible process began without proper consultation. While reform is necessary—ensuring fairness for both workers and employers, and focusing on bringing more women into the workforce—we are proceeding through an inclusive, democratic process: appointing an expert committee, preparing a draft, publishing it for public, worker and union comment, and then proceeding.
¶ 04 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 19 November 2025 ·No. 22931 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Ms.) Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 19 November 2025. No. 22931. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/14127