Pension and housing loans for migrant workers

Rasika Somarathna

The government will introduce a contributory pension scheme for migrant workers. It will also provide special concessionary loans to build houses from next year, Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera said.

The special loan scheme is to be introduced through Samurdhi banks, Minister Perera said.

He said Rs100 million has been allocated to initiate the programme.

A Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment spokesman said the interest on loans will be as low as four percent. The spokesman said in addition, the newly formed Rataviruwo Organisation will help migrant workers and their families to build houses by offering technical support, labour and assistance.

Rataviruwo, currently being formed in every DS division, is a gathering of foreign employment authorities, stake holder state officials, migrant workers and their families. Formulated on a concept of Minister Perera, the organisation will strive to help the country's labour migrants and families fulfill their socio-economic needs.

The pension scheme proposed several years back, is also slated to come into effect from 2013.

Minister Perera said the help of the International Labour Organization will be sought in this regard.

According to sources, migrant workers who have contributed to the scheme regularly will be entitled to a monthly pension. The pension is to be granted from the age of 60 until his or her death.

Sri Lanka's migrant worker fraternity numbering over 1.7 million is the country's largest foreign revenue earner. Their contribution in 2011 surpassed an unprecedented US $5 billion. The annual outflow of labour migrants from the country exceeds 200,000.