NY bonanza for Ministry Secretaries hit by political crisis
In a damage control move of correcting an injustice caused to several ministry secretaries by the sudden action to sack the Yahapalana (Good governance) Government creating public administration paralysis, President Maithripala Sirisena has ordered to rectify and regularise the anomaly of such senior officials affected by the political turmoil.
In the aftermath of dissolution of the Cabinet after UPFA Ministers vacated their ministerial portfolios, at least 12 secretaries have ceased to hold their office.
Some of them have not been reappointed as the President had to downsize the 42-strong Cabinet to 30 ministers in accordance with the Constitution.
Those senior public administrative officers have been serving as ministry secretaries for periods ranging from one year or three years, official sources revealed.
After the dissolution of the Cabinet some of these senior officials reverted back to their old posts and others had to report for duty in different state institutions of the public administration pool, a senior official of the Ministry of Public Administration told the Business Times.
Some had to retire from the service on reaching 60 years while several others are on the verge of retirement, he added.
These senior officials have been deprived of their seniority salary scale of secretaries and pension along with all other allowances and privileges as the entire administrative structure had been severely hampered and jumbled during the 52-day paralysis of state machinery.
To regularise this administrative blunder, the President issued a directive to amend the ‘service minute’ of secretaries to provide retirement benefits entitled to the post as some of them had been deprived it because they ceased to hold such office upon the dissolution of the cabinet of ministers.
By order of the President, Presidential Secretary Udaya R. Seneviratne has issued a gazette extra ordinary on December 31 inserting a sub paragraph in secretaries’ minute correcting the anomaly.
According to the new amendment, a secretary who is deprived of the post due to reasons beyond his/her control, such as “a reason that is not a disciplinary factor, reshuffle of the Cabinet of Ministers, and has completed a minimum of one year in the post of Ministry Secretary as at the date on which he/she is deprived of the such post is entitled to all pension benefits of the post”.
If the balance period of service up to the date of mandatory retirement is one year or less, such an officer is entitled to the pension and all other allowances and privileges assuming that he/she has served up to the age or 60 years at the time of retirement in terms of provisions in the Secretaries Minute.
Even if such an official is reappointed to the previous service or post he/she is made entitled to the seniority salary scale and in addition to the special pensionable allowance granted to Secretaries to Ministries, it said.