Kanchana says PM Harini’s statement false, releases documents

October 29, 2024 at 2:24 PM

Former Minister Kanchana Wijesekera alleges that the recent statement made by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya on the former government’s proposal related to state sector salaries was false and misleading.

Taking to ‘X’, Kanchana Wijesekera said that the previous government of Ranil Wickremesinghe took all the necessary steps per the procedures to approve the salary increments for state sector employees from January 2025. 

“The approval of the Cabinet was granted to appoint a committee and to evaluate the state sector and the salary increments in May 2024. The committee met with trade unions and stakeholders to discuss the state sector issues. The committee recommendations were handed over to the President and were presented to the cabinet and approved in August 2024,” he said. 

The former minister further said that in August 2024, the Cabinet approved the incorporation of the recommendations in the 2025 Budget proposals and to allocate the necessary funds. 

Kanchana Wijesekera revealed that the committee comprised officials from the Treasury, Budget Department, Management Services and other necessary stakeholders. 

His comments come in response to PM Harini Amarasuriya’s recent claims that former President Ranil Wickremesinghe had announced a Cabinet decision to increase public servant salaries, but the necessary procedures to implement this decision were not followed.

“Although Ranil Wickremesinghe claims that a decision was taken to raise the salaries of public servants, when reviewing this Cabinet decision, it’s evident that it was not approved with consent from the Treasury or officials from the Ministry of Finance. A decision was announced, but the necessary actions to implement it were not taken. So, what does that mean? It clearly indicates a false promise given during the election period to mislead the public,” the Premier said while speaking at a public gathering in Padukka earlier this week. (Newswire)