By Rusiripala Tennakoon –

Leaked by a Whistle-Blower “a page from the charges A/c salaries of Contract employees”

Could it be a list that includes the salary bill of some institutions paid for about 15 Executives drawing a handsome salary of Rs. 300,000/- each ? Well Rs. 300,000/-per month is a handsome salary according to the standards of the heavily debt burdened country !

Or could it be a little less generous emolument package covering about 30 top level Executives Grade employees, each being paid about Rs. 150,000/- per month?

Does it also refer to Performance Bonus payments made to Executives who showed extra-ordinary performance levels highly recognized by their Board of Directors on some evaluated criteria relevant to the profits generated based on their individual contributions?

This institution or organization has been very generous in computing and paying arrears of increments to its Executive Grade employees.  In one shot they have paid Rs. 37,502,500 Millions. Next year, just 6 months later this very generous organization had paid another sum of Rs. 37,502,500 the same as the previous year’s payment, as arrears of increments again.

As the assumed numbers for the salary payments in our hypothetical assessment above, 15 or 30 in number, this amount of incremental arrears should have been for this number.  If according to our presumption the numbers was 15 then each lucky Executive employee would get  Rs. 2,500,166/- as incremental arrears. The next question is for which period?  If the amount is for one year then each would be entitled to a monthly increment arrears amount of Rs. 208,347/22. Vow! What an increment?

A top level of Senior Administrative Grade (Former Civil Servant Grade) gets an annual increment about Rs. 30,000/- i.e. Rs. 2,500/- per month. (If on the other hand the number is 30 the amount each gets as arrears of increments would be Rs. 1,250,083/- which works out to a monthly increment of Rs.104,173/61). This is an amount which will not be reflected anywhere in any public service salary structure!

Now there are two Gratuity payments in this list.  An amount of Rs. 8,453,300/- paid to a person called Sabry and another amount of Rs. 3,400,000/- paid to a person called Deepal.  The gratuity payment is made according to a statutory formula which is half months’ salary last drawn multiplied by the number of year in service.

If we assume that these 2 Executives had a service period of 15 years then we can work out the salary basing the gratuity formula.  It works out to Rs. 1,127,100/- in the case of Sabry and Rs. 453,333/- in the case of Deepal.

Now you will wonder who these lucky Executives were, and who this generous employer is. We will give you the answer, but not specifically identifying the institution due to other restrictions and reasons.

Nevertheless! There you are. It is a State Bank – Where? In Sri Lanka !

The information quoted is an extract of the charges A/c Contract Employees Salary

And this salary and bonus bill is for how many Executives? Less than 5 !

Not 15 or 30 we assumed in our computations. Even if the number of Contract Executives is taken as 5, according to the April, 2018 Salary figure they are paid an average of Rs. 1,100,000/- each.

According to the Collective Agreements of the banks with their employees (Public documents) the General Manager of a State Bank which is the highest Executive position is entitled to less than Rs. 300,000/- per month.

What a generous and bountiful handout? At the cost of the public ! The customers expiating for the sins of others while the State that controls these Banks sleep. What is the reason for the deadly silence?

Long Live Good Governance! And God Bless the Yahapalana clowns who have been blind folded for their well-paid act of campaigning for Good Governance. 

Let the MOF (meaning the Ministry of Finance) because it is the MOF which has provided funds for State Banks to function and 

the (CBSL – Central Bank of Sri Lanka) because they are the guardian angels of the banking system in the country with all their laid down procedures and guidelines and 

the Minister in charge of State Enterprises to whom the National Government has entrusted the state Banks.

And finally that sanctified venerated divine body call the government audit, because they are the infallible, flawless authoritative body that should uncover the sins and expose to the nation, become answerable to the poor public, some dying in thirst for want of drinking water and several others departing their worthless lives being unable to get the medication they need in time due to lack of transport and means to afford.  

It will be a curse on the decision makers to allow such a huge drain of public monies of this magnitude !