The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today we debate the votes of the crucial Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government. Public officials now hesitate to take decisions, fearing remand even on unproven allegations. This paralyses the machinery, hence only less than 30 per cent of capital allocations had been spent even by the 30th of last month—the worst development record in 77 years.

¶ 02 I hear Cabinet decisions and circulars of this Ministry must go to Pelawatta for vetting and get delayed for months. Is that so, Hon. Minister?

¶ 03 [Interjections on “Pelawatta.”]

¶ 04 You promised a 6-monthly salary increase; under good governance we increased by 107 per cent. For the lowest grade, your increase was Rs. 6,800, of which Rs. 5,000 was the advance given by Ranil Wickremesinghe, so only Rs. 1,800 extra. You merged allowances into basic pay—useful only for pensions—and about 25,000 retire annually. Over five years that is 125,000. It is we who come next who must fund these increases. You have trapped the system.

¶ 05 The President said here that in 2016 our Government abolished pensions and that they will be restored. But Circular 21/2017 clearly details the contributory pension scheme and states appointments after 2016 are “pensionable” subject to future policy decisions, with contributions to W&OP. We did not abolish pensions. We had allocated Rs. 19 billion to revise pensions for retirees from 2016 to 2020 to align with 2020 salaries; Gotabaya Rajapaksa stopped it. You promised to restore; will they receive it only in 2027–2028?

¶ 06 Prices of medicines and goods have risen; retirees are suffering. We gave 15 per cent interest for their deposits; the previous Government reduced it; you promised to restore. If the Treasury is flush and the primary account balance is large, why not increase it now?

¶ 07 You set aside Rs. 500 million for housing loans for public servants—there are 1.4 million officers; with Rs. 5 million per loan, only 100–200 can benefit. You capped even the disaster loans; with Rs. 10 billion, only about 400,000 can receive, leaving a million without.

¶ 08 On local authorities: the President said he would not fund councils controlled by the Opposition—an undemocratic statement that influenced voters. Now about 100 of 337 LAs are with the Opposition. PCs are run by Governors. Our LAs are denied timely funds and staff. Treat elected bodies equally and allocate necessary funds and officers.

¶ 09 On Provincial Councils: you opposed the system from inception; about 95 per cent of schools and 90 per cent of health services are under PCs; much of agriculture too. Today, PCs are run by Governors; elected members lack power. Your manifesto said PC and LA elections would be held in the first year; only LA polls were held, with the ruling party getting 2.3 million fewer votes than in the General Election—so you fear PC elections. The President now blames the Opposition and asks us to amend the law. Fine: bring a simple amendment to revert to the previous system with a simple majority and hold the PC elections.

¶ 10 Vehicle permits: we gave executive-grade public officers vehicle permits. About 19,000 permits have been issued. The President then said he would stop MPs’ perks and not reduce public servants’ benefits. Now you propose cabs for MPs but deny officers’ permits. We did not ask for cabs. When our Government gave permits, your MPs took them. Hon. Bimal Rathnayake himself took a permit. Do not now deny officers.

¶ 11 Cabinet in March 2024 decided to give Grama Niladharis a Rs. 15,000 uniform allowance, fuel for travel (20 litres or equivalent), and Rs. 1,500 phone allowance. Implement it.

¶ 12 Management Service Officers were promised rectification of anomalies before elections; still not done. Also, create parity between central and provincial recruitments through exams. On Agrahara insurance, you have increased monthly contributions (Ordinary from Rs. 125 to Rs. 200; Silver from Rs. 300 to Rs. 450; Gold from Rs. 600 to Rs. 750). Keep the previous, lower contribution rates—public servants already pay heavy taxes.