Private sector left out in Budget: JVP

• Says Govt. has not focused on salary issues of private sector, especially salaries of plantation workers

By Ashwin Hemmathagama, Our Lobby Correspondent

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Bimal Rathnayake yesterday charged that the Government has failed to address salary issues of the private sector in the Budget, including resolving the long-standing dispute over plantation worker salaries.

Joining the Budget debate, MP Rathnayake said: “Even though the Minister of Finance claims the Budget 2019 to be gender-responsive, it has no mention of unemployed graduates of whom the majority are women. It doesn’t provide a firm solution to the plantation workers’ demand of Rs. 1,000 daily wage, which they deserve. The majority of plantation workers are also women. The Budget only says that the matter will be discussed.”

Under Growth through Supporting Livelihood Development, the Minister of Finance has proposed to increase the productivity of agriculture, fisheries and plantation sectors with the use of technology and change in systems, which will result in higher yields and better quality of products. However, in order to produce an outline to the salary issues, the Minister of Finance, in his Budget proposals, has skipped it by limiting his words to discussing an acceptable solution with the Tea Board.

However, the Budget has proposed to increase female participation in the workforce, identifying a few constraints. Accordingly, the Government has proposed the private sector to support working mothers, by allowing 50% of the salary cost of the mandatory three months maternity leave granted, as an additional deduction, in calculating their corporate taxation, subject to a maximum of Rs. 20,000 per employee per month. 

Making the deal more attractive, the Government has also come forward in the Budget to extend this to an additional deduction of 100% for the fourth month of maternity leave, if so granted. The concession would apply for a five-year period.