A discussion was held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday (01) regarding the issues faced by the Samurdhi Officers as well as about the solutions that could be provided.

During the meeting, it was presented in detail to the President regarding issues faced by the Samurdhi Officers across the country.

The President’s attention was also drawn to the pension issue of the Samurdhi Officers and providing permanent appointments without a reduction in salary as per the agreement signed between the officers who have been absorbed as a new employee of the Department from 2014-01-03. The President instructed the relevant parties to present a proposal in this regard to submit it to the Cabinet.

Several demands including a preparation of an appropriate promotion scheme for the Samurdhi Officers, payment of an allowance of Rs. 10,000 added to the basic salary of the public servants from the last budget, getting of allowance of Rs.300 for Field Officers and Rs.2000 as travel expenses, were submitted by the Samurdhi Officers during this meeting and the President said that after discussing with the Ministry of Finance in this regard next steps will be taken.

Attention was also paid to computerization and modernization of all Samurdhi banks to prevent the delays that occur in transactions and to improve efficiency.

Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare, S.B. Dissanayake, Ministry Secretary W.J. P.S. Weerakoon, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr. R.H.S Samaratunga, and a group of Samurdhi Development Officers participated in the discussion.