Parliament Has Become Bitter for Many Employees

Nearly 30 officials have reportedly left Sri Lanka’s parliamentary service in recent months to take other jobs, mainly in the private sector. The departures involve staff in administration, supplies, finance and Hansard divisions, and most of those who left are graduates.

Parliamentary sources said several more officials left for other services last week. They described the scale of the departures in such a short period as unprecedented for the institution.

The sources attributed the resignations mainly to the loss of leave encashment and other allowances and benefits that parliamentary employees had previously received. They also alleged that no formal program had been introduced to retain staff.

Asked about the issue, a senior parliamentary official said the leave encashment benefit had been stopped as a result of a government policy decision.