India wants Sri Lankan state jobs – are we witnessing another sell out?
Posted on May 14th, 2014

Shenali D Waduge

We were under the impression that Sri Lanka’s unemployment was hovering at 4.4% and then we are informed by a Sunday newspaper that the Minister of Labour and Labour Relations says there are ‘enough vacancies in Sri Lanka’ – not for Sri Lankans, only for Indians and that too in Sri Lanka’s public sector, the engine that steers the Government. The report claims that discussions have already commenced with the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka and his Ministry as well as relevant institutions such as the BOI/Labor Department/EPF and ETF. The Sri Lankan state is also considering raising the salary of foreigners employed in the Sri Lankan state sector and providing compulsory insurance as well. If all these can be made possible for foreigners and an untrustworthy country like India, what is stopping the Ministry from providing the 4.4% unemployed with jobs in Sri Lanka and raising their salaries? Moreover, the most important question is, if Sri Lanka is considering enabling Indians to work in Sri Lanka simply because India has requested, what will Sri Lanka’s politicians do if India requests Sri Lanka to allow Delhi to rule Sri Lanka sans all the parliamentarians at Diyawanna Oya? Would Sri Lanka agree to that request too? The stepping stones are leading in that direction and it is rather baffling that our politicians are making repetitive blunders that would bring them down as well as the entire country. With 1.2million public sector Sri Lankans do we have enough room for more?

The article also comments on the Minister of Labour and Labour Relations giving approvals to bring down laborers from overseas for tasks that cannot be filled by local labourers? What are these tasks that local labor cannot be found? Who in the Sri Lankan state sector is monitoring the arrival of these Indian laborers who may be doing the same job that the local laborers can do but cannot do because it has been filled by an Indian? Long term what would this mean for Sri Lankan laborers? Will they end up somehow going abroad and falling victim to the Middle East battered cadres and perhaps never to return and if so in creating a dearth how will this impact on the rural vote base that always brings politicians and governments to power?

That the state apparatus is clueless on how to handle illegal’s is evident from the fact that 3000 foreigners are legally employed while 10,000 tourists are working in Sri Lanka and this is in addition to the defence authorities packing off illegal’s. To this total we must also add the 300,000 or more Maldivians arriving in Sri Lanka as if Sri Lanka is an extension of Maldives and taking over entire towns while renting out their homes back in Maldives because it is cheaper for them to rent homes in Sri Lanka while making profits from renting their home in Maldives.

While Sri Lankans are complaining of being unemployed the Agricultural Minister was quoted by another newspaper that Sri Lanka was facing a shortage of labourers and was planning to offer work visas to Indians to harvest paddy in the country’s north and east, In fact the public came to know only after that Indians were ALREADY working in the paddy fields of North and East. When Sri Lanka has farmers why are we bringing Indian farmers? Surely the State should financially support our farmers instead of forcing them into debt. Why are we treating our own people so shabbily? Whatever ethnicity it is our citizens who must be given priority at all times. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-02-24/news/37270231_1_labour-shortage-arrival-visa-policy-work-visas

At the same time it is important that Sri Lanka’s citizenry realize that they cannot expect free lunches nor expect any Government to look after their interests, therefore the laziness and incompetency of Sri Lanka’s labor needs to see an immediate sea change. If the public complain about the incompetence of Sri Lankan public sector employees this feature will be enough reason to send them home and invite foreigners or Indians to take over.

Anyone who has been to a public sector office in India would return with one thought alone. Even with Sri Lanka’s public sector overflowing with staff more than required most of whom are reading the newspaper even during office hours while the public await in queue to be called by them, still for all they are far better than the Indian public sector! Now imagine if this lot comes to work in Sri Lanka’s public sector! Productivity would be amazing!

It is said that more than 140 state own institutions are running at losses & have to be supported by the Treasury. State workers take home over 53% of tax revenues (Rs.319.9b as salaries & wages) while Rs.10.6b was lost in tax concessions given to state workers to import cars. The World Bank is increasing pressure on Sri Lanka to reduce its existing 1.2million state employees to 400,000. Which means World Bank is suggesting reducing 800,000 state employees. If so how can the Minister say there are enough jobs in the State sector?

Confusing matters further was another article with the heading ‘Govrt curbs jobs for Indian skilled workers’. This article says that the Government is about to reduce Indian skilled workers in Sri Lanka with particular reference to Colombo Dockyard where 800 Indian skilled workers are employed. In the steel manufacturing industry some 1500 Indians are said to be employed. It appears that the public is totally clueless as to how many Indians or other foreigners are actually working in Sri Lanka as skilled, laborer or even tourist and the far more dangerous notion is how many of these Ministries with untrustworthy Ministers have compromised their ministry to allow further mischief and what else is in store for Sri Lanka’s future.
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130414/news/govt-curbs-jobs-for-indian-skilled-workers-40950.html

Any Government must realize that if the public make deliberations on issues with facts and establish areas that decision makers need to look with far-sight and greater wisdom beyond political survival, it is not only for the nation’s protection but mostly for their own. When we are dealing with India however many times does the Government needs to be told that India is NOT our friend and every decision India takes is ONLY taken based on what fulfills India’s interests. Why are we humbling ourselves and diminishing our integrity when as we speak RAW is operating throughout Sri Lanka to destabalize the country.

12 Responses to “India wants Sri Lankan state jobs – are we witnessing another sell out?”

  1. Sarath W Says:

    Has the minister Lokuge lost all his brain cells or is he trying to make a fast buck? Obviously he is too old to serve as a minister and should resign instead of selling the country to our worst enemy INDIA like his old master JR did.

  2. Lorenzo Says:

    OUTRAGEOUS!

    What the hell is happening to SL? With every passing MONTH we hear STRANGEST OF STRANGE disasters. MOST of them brought by the govt.!

    All forms of creatures INVADING SL and the govt. FACILITATING them. Maldivians, Endians, Pakistanis, Moldovans, Chinese, Koreans, Africans, etc., etc. coming in hundreds of thousands. This is a BAD JOKE.

    ONE positive may be it can REGULATE Endians who illegally work now.

    With a visa scheme govt. can regulate it. But it doesn’t resolve the problem.

    Govt. jobs? UNTHINKABLE!

    If politicians SO BADLY want to give the country to Endia and Endians, they should first hand over their mothers to Endia. See what happens and THEN and ONLY THEN hand over the country.

  3. Charles Says:

    Is the President awarte of what his Ministers are doin. Rashad Bathudeen does what he wants, Rauf Hakeem is independent of the Government and now the Minister of Labour and labour relations. Vasudeva Nanayakara is taking the Tamil questios in a different path, Wimal Weerawansa blames the Financial treasury. I think the President should look,into the actions being taken by all his cabinet minsters as it is not the MahindaChintanaya they are carrying out but a political amalgam

  4. Nanda Says:

    “While Sri Lankans are complaining of being unemployed the Agricultural Minister was quoted by another newspaper that Sri Lanka was facing a shortage of labourers and was planning to offer work visas to Indians to harvest paddy in the country’s north and east, In fact the public came to know only after that Indians were ALREADY working in the paddy fields of North and East. When Sri Lanka has farmers why are we bringing Indian farmers?”

    Endians ? Are they not Tamils or Malayalams ?

  5. Fran Diaz Says:

    More of the same ! Kallathonis by another name ! Shame. Shame, Shame.

    “The article also comments on the Minister of Labour and Labour Relations giving approvals to bring down laborers from overseas for tasks that cannot be filled by local labourers? What are these tasks that local labor cannot be found? Who in the Sri Lankan state sector is monitoring the arrival of these Indian laborers who may be doing the same job that the local laborers can do but cannot do because it has been filled by an Indian? “

  6. Nanda Says:

    “The World Bank is increasing pressure on Sri Lanka to reduce its existing 1.2million state employees to 400,000.”

    Why must listen to “world destroying Bank ” ?
    Strong State Sector is a MUST to bust the corruption and monitor what private buggers doing. Not the quantity but the quality. Politicians, The Number One Enemies of the Land ( not Tamils or Muslims , they are distant second and third) interfere with everyday running of state sector to collect big bribes. This is the culture. That culture MUST be changed to make the State sector profitable, not tax absorbing but tax earning.
    We though Ma-Hinda would do it. But he became a “Maa-hinda ” too. Never mind, wake up and become “Rata-hinda”.

  7. jayasiri Says:

    FOR GOD’s SAKE TELL India to go to HELL. Have we forgeten the INTRUCTION of 13

  8. jayasiri Says:

    FOR GOD’S sake ask India to go to hell. Have Sri Lanka forgotten 13 amendment & Prov. Councils SLAMMED down out troats by India.

    Have we forgiven for TRAING & harbouring LTTE terrorists in INDIA & then send them to de-stablalize Sri lanka?. WE WILL NEVER FORGET or FORGIVE India. I beleive its time to ask India to REMOVE IPKF symbol, out of Lanka. We feel it is demaining to our PEOPLE.

    We continue ask NOT to get involved in India or their AID, after VOTING TWICE against Asr Lanka at UNHRC…..THIRD time they abstained BECAUSE they were worried some day THEY WILL BE ASKED why they are holding KASHMIR against the wishes of Kashmir pwople. THE LIST GOES on, but our leaders have eaten some DRUGS or DRUNK to PRAISE India.

    IF Indian immigration is NOT STOPPED NOW, Sr Lanka will be eventually SWALLOWED BY UGLY INDIA. Stop the Indianization NOW………BBS, Ravana Balays & other PRO SRILANKA orgs must UNITE & demand GOSL take immediate action…..J

  9. Dilrook Says:

    I agree with Charles. The nation is like a ship without a captain. Each party leader of the UPFA rainbow coalition is doing whatever he pleases with petty political and personal agendas. SLMC leader castigated Sri Lanka in the eyes of the UNHRC with a scathing report against the very government he draws his sustenance from. Liberal Party leader Rajeewa has for the third time discredited Sri Lanka abroad. He faulted the government for failure of reconciliation in an interview with a German newspaper. It is racism and vengeance of Tamils that destroyed reconciliation despite valiant attempts by the government. LSSP and Communist party leaders have also criticised the government for not devolving enough powers to the Northern Provincial Council. NFF leader has criticised the funds allocation basis calling it arbitrary and whimsical. JHU leader has criticised the government for destroying the environment while the ACMC leader Bathurdeen has made several anti-national moves. UNP group within the UPFA is also pulling apart the coalition with their own agendas. It is normal to have dissenting views within a coalition but these are much more than just dissent. They are about disintegrating the coalition and putting in danger the interests of the nation and its people.

    There is no Mahinda Chinthanaya any more. Now it is the survival of the coalition for another year until national elections. At this rate, coalition partners will bring down the government from within. A large group of UPFA parliamentarians is likely to cross the fence to UNP side within the next 12 months. They cannot be blamed solely for it. It is better to be in a ship with a captain than in a chaotic one.

    For more reasons than one, I would prefer the collapse of the UPFA coalition now than later. Then the government can have a clear action plan with the voter and the nation in mind, not sectarian interests. As we saw in 2001, it is extremely dangerous to appease coalition partners just to keep the government going. Examples include the Halal Act, 17th Amendment, an expensive referendum attempt, limiting the Cabinet, tolerating acts of rioting by the CWC, SLMC and even government MPs, turning a blind eye to political violence and economic concessions to minorities.

    Minor parties extort nationally unpopular benefits for them and opportunistically leave the government. At the end of it the government would have lost these minor party support and the majority support as well (trying to appease these minor parties).

  10. Ananda-USA Says:

    Hush, Guys … Don’t disturb the Counting!

    Don’t you hear it ? It is now in the millions I hear, and no one knows how high it will go!

    The Counting has begin …. and everybody is waiting with baited breath to hear who won, and how big, and how soon they can get their two cents of the biggest democrazy pie in the world.

  11. Fran Diaz Says:

    The multi party system is killing Lanka. Sri Lanka is over diverse for such a small land area and the existing political system is slowly killing the country, one way or another. We suggest a National Government system for Sri Lanka.

  12. Fran Diaz Says:

    A National Government is defined as : A national government is coalition government with members of all parties in the legislature. A national government, a national unity government or a national union government is usually formed during a crisis, during a time of war or other national emergency.

    Since Sri Lanka is in a state of permanent crisis, a permanent National Government is requested.

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