Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa

¶ 01 Physiotherapists as well? I will check and inform.

¶ 02 On salaries: Since colonial times to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, preliminary grade doctors’ basic salary had remained around Rs. 54,290, with multiple small allowances layered on it. Within three months of assuming office, we increased the basic salary by Rs. 40,000—up to Rs. 94,000 for doctors in preliminary grade; basic salary increases from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 80,000 across categories. We must enhance basic pay to dignify professionals. I discussed this with the unions that took trade union action; they understood the fiscal situation, and strikes scheduled for the 5th–7th were called off. Many other unions also refrained from strikes. With increased basic pay and adjustments to extra duty, OT and public holiday rates, services are continuing.

¶ 03 A brief word on the Department of Posts. It was long neglected, but can be modernized to compete with the private sector. We allocate Rs. 23.9 billion (Rs. 21 billion recurrent; Rs. 2 billion capital), Rs. 1,300 million to build 14 new post offices and upgrade others, and will renew the vehicle fleet. We will develop flagship post offices in Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Colombo, and Galle as tourist attractions, and upgrade the Postal Museum.

¶ 04 On Mass Media, our ministry includes the Department of Government Information, four State media institutions, the Government Press, and SLTTC. We allocate Rs. 5.52 billion. We will hold the long-delayed Presidential Media Awards this year. We will establish a chartered institute to professionalize journalists, with Rs. 25 million allocated, and publish a National Media Policy by June. We will offer 100 annual scholarships to journalists and run school programmes on media ethics and literacy. We allocate Rs. 165 million to modernize the Government Press. The TV digitalization project stalled under a Japanese loan; working with the Digital Economy Ministry, we are expediting it. We will depoliticize and properly fund State media institutions.

¶ 05 On the Sri Lanka Foundation: it must revert from catering/venue hiring to its core role of providing policy support. We have allocated funds this year to realign it to serve national well-being.

¶ 06 I thank you for the additional time.