Hon. (Dr.) Nishantha Samaraweera

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to join the debate on the Budget presented by our Hon. President.

¶ 02 Let me first clarify an issue raised by the Opposition about Adani. As a Government, we have no special problem with that company. But we must examine all facts. There are legal proceedings in other countries, but those relate to matters earned there, not to anything we built. Within Sri Lanka, our concern is whether any concession given benefits our people. That is the lens we apply. We have not moved to drive away any investor.

¶ 03 Looking at the debate so far, I am reminded of a story: a telegram arrives saying “Rs. 50 taken,” but it is read as “Rupiyal pana nahagaththa”—and the house becomes a funeral. Much of the Opposition’s reading of the Budget is like that—misreading instead of understanding. Some spoke on unrelated matters. I invite them to treat this as a Budget debate.

¶ 04 Sovereignty over public finance lies with Parliament. Historically, governments kept the larger share for themselves and threw crumbs to the people. For the first time, we are reducing our own privileges and benefits and, within the constraints, directing as much relief and programmes as possible to the people. This is a distinctive Budget; there has been no such Budget in our history. The context must be understood; it may be hard for some, but it is the truth.

¶ 05 We are not special individuals. Yet, earlier Budgets behaved as if their framers were. This time we have done the opposite: treating the people as special, and prioritizing relief and reactivating the economic machine. We are reviving an engine that had seized up. When you restart such a machine, it makes some noise, has rust, and has non-functional parts. Our interventions in this Budget are to get that engine turning again.

¶ 06 A major topic has been public sector salaries—especially for doctors, nurses, and all staff under Health. Many seek to downplay these increases. Let us be clear: we are moving away from an allowances-based system—extra duty, overtime, etc.—to building a decent livelihood on the basic salary. Under Circular 3/2016, a doctor at the last slab who had been at around Rs. 100,000 will, within a short 20 months—not even two full years—by January next year, receive over Rs. 184,000. The basic salary alone increases by about Rs. 80,000. We must ask why some cannot acknowledge this as a significant improvement. With associated allowance adjustments, we are putting their lives on a better footing.

¶ 07 Some say extra duty and overtime ratios have changed; however, no previously earned overtime or extra-duty pay will be reduced. This applies to doctors and all other categories. We call on professional associations to recognize this and help implement the change.

¶ 08 Hon. Deputy Speaker, while we do not intend to keep the present situation forever, as the economy improves we aim to further increase the basic salary so that people can live decently on the wage for a standard workday—without having to rely on excessive overtime. That is our direction. Thank you for the opportunity.