Minister urges caution during postal voting, warns against false promises

Colombo, September 2 (Daily Mirror) - Education Minister Susil Premajayantha today urged government employees to be cautious when casting their postal votes and not to be misled by false election promises.

Addressing the media, he said that none of the election manifestoes launched by the respective political parties included a proposal to address the salary anomalies of government employees.

The issue of salary anomalies for government employees was not relevant to be included in President Ranil Wickremesinghe's manifesto for the 2024 Presidential Election, he said.

"The expert committee report was received before the manifesto was launched. The proposal was submitted as part of the budget after receiving Cabinet approval. Therefore, it wasn't necessary to include it in the election manifesto as a policy decision. We only mentioned providing tax concessions in the coming days after discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," he explained.

The Minister therefore urged government employees to be cautious when casting their postal votes, warning them not to be swayed by false election manifestoes.

"A total of Rs. 250 billion will be allocated as additional funds to resolve the salary anomalies of government employees, which will be managed through budget proposals.

"As a result, all salary increments for government employees will be implemented from January 1, 2025. This proposal does not need to be included in the election manifesto, as it will be part of the budget proposal," Premajayantha said.