Cabinet nod to set-up 100,000-strong ‘multi-purpose task force’ under separate department

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has decided to set-up a ‘multi-purpose task force’ comprising 100,000 qualified low-income youth under a separate department.

The Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday approved a proposal by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to establish a multipurpose development task force under a special department to provide 100, 000 employment opportunities for qualified low-income youth in the public sector.

According to Cabinet Co-spokesperson and the Plantations and Export Agriculture Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, the low-income youth who have passed Ordinary Levels will qualify for the task force.

As per the Cabinet office, the requirement to this task will be done transparently at district level and the operations of the department will commence on January 15, 2020.
The services of task force members, who will undergo a six-month training programme, will be offered to State institutions and also to the private sector on a cost-effective basis, the Cabinet office said.

Sri Lanka has over 1.4 million State-sector workers while the number of pensioners is estimated to be 0.6 million and around 25,000 State employees are expected to retire before end of this year.

During the first four months of 2019, the salaries and pension payments to State employees were at Rs. 292.46 billion, accounting for 30.4 percent of the overall State expenditure. 

Further, the previous government had approved a salary hike to State employees to remove salary anomalies in public sector which is set to come into force from 1 January 2020, and is expected to drive expenditure on salaries and pensions of government employees to Rs.1.12 trillion next year from Rs.1 trillion estimated for this year.