Jvp-affiliated...

The statement from the ‘Employees Centre for Protecting Pensions’, which is a collective of several trade unions including the National Teacher Services Union and the All Ceylon Health Services Union said the duty of the government was to safeguard and continue with social security scheme at the time the country’s aging population is increasing.

“The aging population which is 12.4 per cent of the total population currently is set to increase up to 27.7 per cent by 2050.

A collective of several trade unions including the National Teacher Services Union and the All Ceylon Health Services Union said the duty of the government was to safeguard and continue with social security scheme at the time the country’s aging population is increasing

It is therefore obvious that social security schemes are in place to help elderly population.

The statement said the government is repeatedly saying that aging population is becoming a burden to the country while the charity allowance scheme for the elders was scrapped in 2016. “According to the latest circular the monthly family income of an elderly person has to be less than Rs.30,000 for him to qualify for the charity allowance. In such circumstances no elderly person under the age of 70 will receive the allowance,” it said.

The centre threatened to organise countrywide protests if the government failed to address this issue in the next budget.