The Hon. (Dr.) Hansaka Wijemuni - Deputy Minister of Health and Mass Media

¶ 01 Answer: (a) (i) As per the letter of the Director General of Management Services dated 27.01.2025, when obtaining information on employees not included in the approved cadre in hospitals and institutions under the Ministry, it was revealed that a group of persons were serving on a voluntary basis at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. It has been reported that in 2021, the then Deputy Director permitted relevant persons to serve voluntarily for three months. During that period Dr. Sathyamoorthy Thangamuththu was on foreign training for medical professionals.

¶ 02 (ii) These volunteers reported for a few hours per day under a duty roster and were assigned to tasks outside direct patient care.

¶ 03 (iii) As the work was strictly voluntary, there has been no violation of labour laws.

¶ 04 (b) (i) They were not appointed to the government sector; they volunteered with an expectation of gaining experience.

¶ 05 (ii) They are only a group of volunteers arriving with the expectation of gaining experience at the hospital.

¶ 06 (iii) The Emergency Raids Unit of the Ministry is examining complaints; no such complaint has been received thus far in this regard.

¶ 07 (c) Does not arise.