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| Wednesday, 18 August 2004 |
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| Boon for graduate Samurdhi managers by Uditha Kumarasinghe Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi yesterday said that she had presented a special Cabinet paper seeking approval to bring the salary level of Samurdhi Managers who are graduates on par with other graduates employed in other State Authorities. In addition to increasing the salaries of Samurdhi Managers, the Ministry has also implemented a special promotion scheme for Samurdhi Mangers, she said.The Minister made these observations at a ceremony held at the Samurdhi Ministry to hand over the letters of appointment to a batch of 32 Samurdhi Development Managers who have been promoted as Samurdhi Managers through a competitive examination conducted by the Ministry. During these four months of the Freedom Alliance Government, Samurdhi Development Officers (SDOs)and Samurdhi Managers have been conferred the largest number of benefits. They are the key resource persons who are directly involved in the programme to alleviate poverty among low income groups, she said. Under the directive of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the Ministry has already taken a number of decisions for the welfare of these Samurdhi officers, she said. "Samurdhi Managers obtain low salaries compared with the salary scales of graduates serving in other Government Authorities. Therefore, I have submitted a Cabinet paper to introduce a salary scale equal to that enjoyed by graduates in other Government authorities to the Samurdhi Managers as well", the Minister said. Meanwhile, the Government through a special insurance scheme has insured the countrywide Samurdhi Bank Societies and the Samurdhi officers who work in these banks. In addition to this the Samurdhi Ministry grants a Rs. 50,000 loan to SDOs and special disaster loan to Samurdhi Managers, she said. The Minister said of the total cadre of 28,000 Samurdhi Development Officers, former UNF government had granted permanency to only 3000 SDOs. However, the Freedom Alliance Government decided to confirm all these SDOs. All these SDOs were promoted as Samurdhi Managers due to a key decision taken by the Freedom Alliance Government for the benefit of the SDOs. The last UNF Government attempted to fill nearly 50 per cent of vacancies in the Samurdhi Movement from outside ignoring the graduates within the Samurdhi Movement. |
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