Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna said the Labour Minister and officials had discussed increasing plantation workers’ wages in line with the President’s Budget commitment, targeting Rs. 1,700. He noted that discussions with plantation companies were ongoing, with some citing constraints and others indicating possible increases, and that a collective agreement was needed. He called for support in finding a mechanism or new model that raises wages while sustaining plantation businesses and employment.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, briefly: Before coming here, Labour Minister Hon. Anil Jayantha and I met, with officials of both Ministries, to discuss increasing plantation workers’ wages. As the President announced in the Budget, we increased public sector salaries and private sector wages; therefore, the plantation worker’s wage too should be increased to Rs. 1,700. We held several rounds with plantation companies. Some expressed constraints; some, in separate discussions, indicated room for some increase. A collective agreement is required. We are proceeding to honor our commitment; we will not abandon it.
¶ 02 Hon. Palani Thigambaram: Some told me they want a new model. If so, say it, and we can discuss and see if wages can be raised that way.
¶ 03 Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna: Please support us. We want to raise workers’ wages and sustain businesses and industries, because that sustains employment. We are looking for a suitable mechanism. Let’s explore new models together. Thank you.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 20 August 2025 ·No. 1756378373069107 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
- Page · column
- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
- Permalink
/lk/speeches/16169
Cite as: Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 20 August 2025. No. 1756378373069107. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/16169