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Doctors’ demand for allowances despite higher salaries ‘unrealistic’, says Health Ministry
View(s):By Ishu Bandara
State sector doctors took their grievances about allowances to another senior minister on Thursday.
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) met with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, to discuss their concerns.
However, the Deputy Minister of Health and Mass Media, Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni, questioned why the GMOA had sought intervention from external actors.
“They have previously met with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sarvajana Balawegaya’s Dilith Jayaweera and Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa,” Dr. Wijemuni noted, emphasising his confusion over their strategy. 
He said that the GMOA’s attempts to align with opposition parties and push for an Act in Parliament would be futile, because a majority vote is needed.
“Not only the 1/80 they requested, but the government is also willing to offer 1/70 if its financial situation improves. To avoid salary discrepancies, we, as a government, decided to increase the basic salary of medical officers, and this will proceed in three phases over 20 months. Once completed, the salary of medical officers will be doubled, and in such a situation, it is unreasonable to demand further increases. Given Sri Lanka’s current economic situation, these demands are unrealistic, and for now, the government can only allocate 1/120,” he said.
“This is not an inscription; this is not the final document regarding the salary increment for medical officers. In accordance with the country’s development and an expanded economic situation, we are planning to provide every benefit to government officers by increasing their salaries in the future,” said Dr. Wijemuni.
He also emphasised that medical officers should be grateful to Sri Lankans, as this significant salary increment is funded from tax money.
In the 2025 national budget, the National People’s Power Government allocated Rs 604 billion for health. This represents about 6.7% of the gross domestic product. Of this allocation, Rs 185 billion is specifically for medicines purchases.
Still, the GMOA expressed strong dissatisfaction over the reduction of the extra duty allowance. They claimed that although the basic salary was increased, the decision to cut the hourly rate of the extra duty allowance by 50% and reduce holiday allowances, has resulted in financial losses for medical professionals. They also stated that this could demoralise medical officers and worsen the brain drain, ultimately affecting patient care. 
When the Sunday Times asked the President of the GMOA, Dr Prabath Sugathadasa, he complimented the government on the salary increment and the significant budget allocation for health. However, he expressed regret over the reduction of the extra duty allowance and holiday allowance.
Medical officers’ extra duty allowance was reduced from 1/80 to 1/120 and the holiday allowance from 1/20 to 1/30.
These reductions led to the scheduling of a protest by the GMOA on March 5. However, following the involvement of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, they decided to call it off until the third reading of the budget on March 21.
During last week’s budget debate, Minister of Health Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa stated that the basic salary of a doctor entering service anew has been increased substantially to Rs 94,150. With allowances, the gross salary is Rs. 240,000.
When the Sunday Times asked about extra duties of medical officers, Dr. Sugathadasa listed responsibilities including training newly appointed medical officers and interns, as well as nurses and other staff. He also mentioned managing and authorising examinations, overseeing administrative duties in divisional hospitals, inspections and salary arrangements for non-academic staff, confirming drug purchases and maintaining inventory, post-mortem examinations at divisional hospitals, and issuing medical certificates.
However, the main claim of the president of the GMOA is that the salary increment was given not only to medical officers but to the entire government sector, whereas the reduction in extra duty allowances applied only to them.
Asked about this, the Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Wijemuni told the Sunday Times that there are generally nine all-island services, and they are considered parallel grades. In these parallel grades, there are no extra duty or overtime payments, but only additional allowances. “We have also reduced those additional payments. When they claimed there were no deductions for others regarding extra duty, it simply means they do not receive extra duty or overtime payments in the first place. So how can they say their allowances were not reduced when such payments do not exist for them?
“The 1/80 extra duty allowance was introduced in 1980 by (then) Health Minister Mr. Ranjith Athapaththu to address the need for an increase in the basic salary of medical officers and instead of increasing the basic salary, the adjustment was made through an extra duty allowance. That circular did not specify exactly that it must be 1/80, it could sometimes be 1/90, 1/80, or another figure. Given the country’s financial difficulties, all government sectors should appreciate even this type of increment by the government in this 2025 budget.’’
The Deputy Minister explained how the extra duty calculation was done and stated that the basic salary should be divided by 80 to determine the hourly rate. This method assumes that a doctor’s standard monthly workload for extra duty calculations is 80 hours.
“The difference between 1/80 and 1/120 is between about Rs. 50,000 and 75,000, which is not a small amount. We are not in a position to provide an additional Rs. 50,000 per month to around 22,000 medical officers across the country until it achieves full financial stability.’’ According to Dr. Wijemuni, “financial recovery for a bankrupt country like ours will take more than 10 years.”
As mentioned by Dr. Wijemuni, the 1/80 issue affects only a limited number of politically motivated medical officers, not the entire sector.
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