A specialist doctor, who is the acting director of a national level hospital in Colombo, has written to the finance secretary over a delay in receiving his allowance payment arrears.
That is after the health ministry’s chief financial officer informed him a delay of about a year due to a lack of funds.
The hospital’s acting director has informed that he was facing severe financial issues, with a Rs. 15,000 monthly interest due on a bank overdraft he has obtained for the treatment of his mother.
He cannot even find money to travel to his hospital, he said.
Anyhow, the doctor notes that income and other taxes from his salary get deducted on time.
He noted that five years of arrears amounted to Rs. 1,648,830, but Rs. 499,578 had been deduced as taxes.
Rs. 4,500,000 had been paid for a house in a complex being built by a state entity, but with a delay in the construction, he has to rent a house at Rs. 45,000 per month and a monthly payment of Rs. 105,000 has to be made to cover a bank loan he has obtained.
He has blamed inefficiency and financial management shortcomings of the state for this, but lamented that he cannot go to the Labour Department to complain as a public servant.
He has asked that he be paid the arrears, or the interest he has paid be reimbursed or failing both, given a disaster loan.
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