Labour Welfare Fund is defunct

The resolution to abolish the Shrama Wasana Fund, which was controlled under the Ministry of Labour, was passed in Parliament today, and accordingly, the fund is scheduled to be fully liquidated in the future. The relevant proposal was presented to Parliament by the Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, Mr. Anil Jayanta.

Commenting that there is no further need to maintain this fund, which belongs to the state enterprise sector, the Deputy Minister stated that the Ministry of Labour had previously obtained Cabinet approval to abolish this fund, which was maintained by revenue from lottery sales. As the main functions of the fund are already being carried out by other divisions of the Ministry of Labour, abolishing it will significantly reduce unnecessary administrative costs.

This liquidation process will not result in the loss of any privileges for the staff employed therein, and steps will be taken to transfer those divisions to other departments within the Ministry. The Deputy Minister also stated that this step was taken to minimize unnecessary government expenditure and establish public financial discipline.

It was also revealed that during the past period, funds from the relevant fund had been spent outside of its intended purposes. In 2024, when Mr. Manusha Nanayakkara served as the subject minister, an amount of 6.6 million rupees was spent on educational programs. He pointed out that assisting schoolchildren with funds allocated for worker welfare is contrary to the fund's structure, and that other institutions, including the Ministry of Education, exist for such activities.

Furthermore, Deputy Minister Anil Jayanta stated that a massive sum of 66 million rupees had been spent solely on purchasing school bags, deviating from the primary objectives, and although distributing bags to children is commendable, it was done bypassing the fund's fundamental legal objectives.