Pavithra assures Samurdhi Managers

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi yesterday assured the Samurdhi Managers she has already taken all possible steps to overcome certain problems faced by Samurdhi Managers pertaining to their service.

Following a discussion with the Samurdhi Managers' trade union at Sri Lanka Samurdhi Authority yesterday the Minister said over the past ten years certain injustices have been caused to the Samurdhi Managers due to various wrong precedents in the Samurdhi movement.

The Minister pledged to the Samurdhi Managers that she will take every possible attempt to rectify these injustices faced by the Samurdhi Managers who play a leading role within the Samurdhi movement to tackle the poverty among poor.

She said that she would never deceive trade union representatives as practised by traditional politicians in the past taking wrong political decisions. "I have no intention whatsoever to turn Samurdhi Managers and Samurdhi Development Officers into political henchmen."

"In a situation where steps are being taken by the Ministry to safeguard the rights of Samurdhi Managers to overcome their problems, trade union action taken by Samurdhi Managers are unfair. Especially resorting to trade union action cannot be accepted at the expense of poverty of poor," she said.

However, trade union representatives expressed their satisfaction towards the steps taken by the Minister so far to sort out their problems.

They said certain individuals have launched various conspiracies obstructing the resolution of their problems. They requested the Minister to ensure that justice is meted out to them without being misled by these conspirators.

Ministry Secretary W. K. K. Kumarasiri and Samurdhi Director General Ravindra Hewavitharana also attended the discussion.