Specialists demand allowance for extra duty, transport

7 February 2025 07:03 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 7 Bookmark

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Colombo, Feb 07 (Daily Mirror) - The Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) met Deputy Finance Minister Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando today (07) to demand a fixed allowance for extra duty payments and discuss specialist remuneration for Budget 2025.

The meeting, arranged by Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayathissa, focused on key demands.

AMS urged the inclusion of medical specialists in the PA 22/99 transport allowance, citing salary parity with parallel SL3 grade officers. They also highlighted the lack of recognition for after-hours work in extra duty payments and proposed a fixed allowance.

AMS explained the ever-increasing offsite after-hours work done as on-calls is not properly recognized for extra duty payments, and the DA component of the current DAT allowance cannot cover ever increasing after-hours offsite work.

Furthermore, AMS explained that the current DAT allowance is the same for the most junior medical officer and the senior specialist, despite the higher frequency of on-calls and greater responsibilities of senior specialists. AMS proposed creating a single fixed allowance for current extra duty payments and a corrected DA component of the DAT allowance.

In addition, AMS called for a specialist allowance for non-clinical duties such as teaching and administrative roles.

In response, Prof. Fernando assured that these demands would be considered and agreed to further discussions. AMS urged members to unite in support of these proposals.

Comments - 7

wickrama Wijayasiri Friday, 07 February 2025 09:23 PM

In general majority of the SL doctors should not have been admitted to our medical colleges providing free education. Getting high grades in bio sciences is no sufficient to be admitted to be trained as a care giver. They are educated with the taxpayer expense and in return feed on the taxpayer once they graduate. There are no fitting words in the English language to describe their greed.

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Citizen Saturday, 08 February 2025 07:35 AM

Are you sitting on your brain? Everyone was educated by tax money. Once internship is done, the free hours they work had already paid more than the government spent for their medical degree. If you're not sure, find out. Do some maths if you can. Sri Lanka pays far less for doctors than for the executive grade professionals of the same level. Don't hate doctors like this and open your eyes and see. This free education story is not only valid for doctors. It applies to everyone. Most people wasted it while doctors used it most efficiently. Thank you.

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Mura Raja Saturday, 08 February 2025 09:13 AM

Hope you also studied at least A/L or more or less with tax payers money. Are you ready to pay back your expenses? I am promising here , if all the citizens are ready to pay back their study expenses- whatever they had up to their study level, all the doctors and specialists are ready to payback their expenses. If you have common sense, think about this. People who don’t have brain or IQ can’t just ask to serve only doctors for slavering

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Gamini Saturday, 08 February 2025 09:20 AM

Having obtained tax payer funded free education, most of them do not pay or pay very little tax.

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Srilankan Saturday, 08 February 2025 01:26 PM

Why these people shout regarding free education when problems of doctors are raised? Didn't the other fields study through free education? Didn't the other citizens of srilanka had the equal opportunity of free education? Doctors atleast pay back through their service... These brain faded people atleast should stop this nonsense talk...

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Anthony Saturday, 08 February 2025 01:34 PM

Results of standardisation brought in by Minister Badudin Mohamed during that woman Sirimavo’s time. It ruined standards of education, brought into prominence ethnicity problems, made the intelligentsia to seek foreign education and jobs. Thus docs locally feel, their earnings far below standard of businessmen in Sri Lanka.

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Shan Sunday, 09 February 2025 02:28 PM

What about number of hours work at the private hospitals ward visits and consultation morning noon and night. How many hours spent in the govt hospitals by the consultants.

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