Thousands of state employees not received pension gratuity for three years

 

Friday, 23 May 2014 

The All Ceylon Trade Union Federation has said that 18,000 state employees have not received the pension gratuity for three years.

The Federation has said the state employees have not received Rs 700 million in pension gratuity as the funds allocated have been spent by the government on other activities.

The Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has also reportedly confirmed the union’s claim.
According to TISL, Director General of Pensions, S.S. Hettiarachchi is responsible for this situation and the Treasury has not released the money yet.

According to the new circular of the Department of Pensions, pensioners can obtain the gratuity in the form of a loan from a government bank.

The revelation was made when a petition presented by the All Ceylon Trade Union Federation against the move to slash the pension gratuity at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) was heard recently.