'Unrest growing over non payment of risk allowance'

A sizable section of employees of government and semi-government institutions in the North and East are not receiving the Risk Allowance recommended by Treasury Circular No. 29/25 1998, complained Batticaloa District MP (UNP) Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana.

Moving an adjournment debate on the issue in Parliament on Thursday he said that 1200 employees of the National Paper Corporation have not received their risk allowance since January, 1997. The total amount due to them upto date was Rs. 15.5 million, he added.

The employees of the Health Services have not received theirs for the last eight months. Teachers working in the North and the East have not been paid since January 1997. They number about 24,000 and the total risk allowance outstanding is about Rs. 145 million.

So are the 1250 employees of the four Universities, Eastern, Jaffna, Raja Rata and South-Eastern. Both the academic and non-academic staffs of the four Universities have not been paid their risk allowances, Mr. Moulana said.

Public officers engaged in civil administration in the Polon-naruwa, Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Vavuniya, Mannar and Monera-gala district too are yet to be paid their risk allowances.

Public passenger transport workers who work in an environment of conflict and amid danger helping other officers to maintain civil administration in these risky areas are not receiving a risk allowance either since 1995 though they too are entitled to it, he said.

"Without their help the wheels of Government machinery would never have moved", says Mr. Moulana.

Under the Circular the Transport Board must pay the risk allowances out of its funds. But the Transport Board is unable to do so because they have no funds.

Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas have paid out of their savings but no payment has been made since August this year as they have exhausted their funds, he added.

Members of the Electricity Board have not received their risk allowance for 1997 and 1998. Employees of District Secretaries’ offices and Divisional Secretaries’ offices have been paid upto June this year. Further payments has been stopped pending instructions from the Chief Secretaries.

Employees of Road Development Authority, Building Department, Irrigation Department and Agricultural Department have also not received their risk allowances, he said.

Mr. Moulana said that unrest was brewing among government and non-government sector employees over the failure to pay their risk allowances.

Other MPs who supported the motion were P. Chandrakumar (EPDP), Y. Bala-chandran (DPLF) A. H. M. Azwer (UNP) and P. Selvarasa (TULF)

Dy Minister assures top level action

Deputy Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Plantation Industry, Monty Gopallawa replying Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana, promised to take up the issues raised by the Batticaloa District MP in an adjournment motion on Thursday, at the proper level and see that steps are taken to ensure that nobody would feel he or she has been discriminated against

He said that the full workforce employed in the North and East was 115,771. Out of this number 46,601 are Government employees, 47,700 are Provincial Council employees and 21,700 were employees of semi-government institutions.

There is no problem with regard to the payment of the risk allowance to the Government employees. There is, however, a problem with regard to the payment of the risk allowance to the other two categories because payment has to be made out of the funds of the institution concerned.

The Ministry of Public Administration, has nothing to do with the payment of this allowance to staff of universities. It is a matter coming under the Ministry of Finance, he added.

The Deputy Minister assured he would take up the issues raised by Ali Zahir Maulana at the proper levels and would take measures so that nobody felt he had been discriminated against.