The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna

¶ 01 Hon. Prime Minister, if you do not call it an ‘anomaly,’ at least accept that there is a ‘problem.’ The issue is this: under the last Budget, along with the 2025 public sector salary increase, the government decided that public servants retiring on or after 2025-01-01 would have their pensions elevated by aligning them to the 2027 step. Within that decision, those who retired between 2020 and 2024 have been pushed into the very anomaly—or problem—you refer to. If so, that problem stems from the decision in the latest Budget. I am happy pensions are being improved—whichever government does it. But the retirees have written to you all—the Cabinet and the President—asking for a meeting date. They even held a protest on the 2nd of May. They say they have not been given a date. I say the anomaly—or problem—was created by your decisions.

¶ 02 My second question: According to the President’s analysis, there are two categories of retirees: those who retired before 2020 and those after 2025, whose anomalies are said to be resolved. However, those who retired during 2020–2024 seem to have been forgotten. The President says one thing; you and the Deputy Minister of Labour seem to acknowledge there is an issue. What is this contradiction? Are there only two categories—‘before 2020’ and ‘after 2025’? If so, what happens to the 2020–2024 group?