Unemployed graduates assert right to work

Friday, 4 November 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Unemployed Graduates yesterday urged the Government to establish regulations to consider employment as a right of the people.

Staging a protest in front of the Fort railway station, the Combined Association of Unemployed Graduates (CAUG) Media Spokesman Anurudda Wickramarachchi told DailyFT that the all unemployed graduates have a right to work.

Wickramarachchi also said the Government should draw up a national policy to monitor the recruitment process of unemployed graduates.

“Unemployed graduates want a specific mechanism through the next budget to address the issue of unemployment in the country. We have been demanding this for the last few years but no one has paid us any attention,” he said.

Commenting over the statistics of unemployed graduates in Sri Lanka, Wickramarachchi said there are approximately 3000 unemployed graduates in this Country.

He said the Finance Minister should allocate money to recruit them for Government jobs from the next budget.

Wickramarachchi further said that there are 3200 teachers’ vacancies and 8000 Information officers’ vacancies in the Government that could be filled by unemployed graduates.

They also demanded the Government to extend the recruiting age limit form 35 years to 45 years.

“We formally requested President’s Secretary to arrange a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena, but we have not got a positive response yet,” he claimed. (CG)