Labour Dept. activities hampered by severe human resource shortage

With no credible efforts in place to solve the severe shortage of human resources at the Labour Department, activities of the department, which is tasked with safeguarding the labour rights, has come to a standstill, according to Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.
“The shortage of human resources at the Labour Department has become a main issue now. Although, four persons in the public administration were instated to the department recently, three of them have been recalled, leaving only one official,” De Silva said during the opening of Labour Office in Ja-Ela this week.
The Labour Ministry has also called for applications to recruit labour officers. However, the minister noted that the recruitment examination is yet to be held in order to select and recruit the applicants.
Amid the expanding fiscal deficit, the government has announced a freeze on new hiring to the public sector. However, the government moved on to recruit 65,000 unemployed graduates and 35,000 youth.
Despite confronted with a massive human resource challenge, the minister stressed that his ministry would do its best in safeguarding the rights of the working population and ensuring a safe working environment.
Meanwhile, the minister also extended his appreciation to  Presdeint Gotabya Rajapakse and Finance Minister Basil Rajapakse for exempting the EPF and ETF from the proposed  25 percent Surcharge Tax.