All temporary employees of local Government institutions have been made permanent on Friday, revealed Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Though not indicating the exact number, the Premier made this announcement during remarks made at a ceremony on Saturday to distribute egg incubators under Chinese support at Kurunegala District Secretariat office.

Having recalled the multiple challenges the country, the economy and the people at large faced, the Prime Minister said: “In the midst of all these difficulties, allowances given to public servants have been increased. The confidence of Government employees and employees in various fields will be further increased through the upcoming Budget. We have come here after fulfilling another expectation that you have been waiting for. That is granting permanent status for temporary employees of all local Government institutions from last Friday.”

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“The economy of our country, which is gradually recovering from a serious crisis, is slowly growing. However, we still have to face many serious challenges. Among them, we need to understand the difficulties of the low-income earners and give strength to them,” the Prime Minister said

Referring to the egg incubator distribution, Gunawardena said it will open up direct income sources for families at village level.

“The objective of this program is to improve income generation, improve nutrition of families, improve general egg production in the country, and create a self-sufficient home garden at the household level, and create rural entrepreneurs. This project is to enable them to enjoy a nutritious meal. It has been launched all over the country and the aim is to increase the income of low-income families, step by step,” the Prime Minister said.

“It is very important to expand poultry farming as a rural household industry. This business can be maintained through proper training among the rural families,” he added.

Focusing on macro issues, the Prime Minister said various myths are spreading across the country. “According to our Sinhala saying, many of those myths are lies that grow on your palm. It has been said in the past that we will not be getting a cent from the IMF. As of today, the IMF has given that financial assistance according to the agreement. We had to get money to get out of the current economic crisis as it is necessary to take economic development measures that generate economic growth and foreign exchange and use them for the development of the people. Therefore, the environment should be transformed for the development of far flung villages and for the increase of income sources. We are moving towards that goal,” Gunawardena added.

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