Pensions slip back

Manjula Fernando

COLOMBO: The pensioners will receive their monthly salary slips again, as the Public Administration Ministry is to reinstate the practice, which was discontinued 18 months ago, when banks took over issuing the retirement allowance (pension).

Public Administration Minister Karu Jayasuriya on a promise made to pensioner unions has instructed the Director General Pensions to make immediate arrangements to issue this ‘posted pay slips’ with immediate effect.

Earlier when the pensions were paid at post offices, the over 400,000 pensioners in the country were delivered a salary slip at their doorstep.

The pensioners had been lamenting that they wanted the practice to continue to know the details of their salaries. With the introduction of the procedure to issue the pensions through the Bank, though very convenient, they had lost the only means of knowing how much they would receive.

The practice was discontinued to save Rs.5 spent on each slip and ease the additional work load on officials of the Divisional Secretariats.