Do your duty by your countrymen

President tells academics:

‘Do your duty by your countrymen’

Proper method should be followed by TUs to win demands:

*Ready to talk to them at any time
*Govt always treated academics with dignity
President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday called on university academics to perform their duty by the young people of the countrymen to the best of their ability, adding that the government would not neglect to do its part for the benefit of university lecturers at any time.
The President said so during a discussion with a group of university academics at Temple Trees on Monday.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa

The academics discussed several current issues faced by them with the President including those related to salaries. The President told the academics that there is a method to follow by trade unions when seeking to win their demands.
He added that the government is prepared to talk to the academics at any time to solve their issues.
The President pointed out that certain political parties were trying to use the issue to create a conflict and the academics should be aware about these facts.
He told the academics that the government needed some more time to address the requests put forward by them.
He pointed out that less than six months had passed since granting salary increases from the last budget and there were certain difficulties in making a further hike at the moment.
He said that the government had always treated the university academics with dignity and any issues faced could be sorted out amicably.
The academics in turn said that they would fully support the government efforts.
The decision to provide a research allowance to academics too came in for high praise by the lecturers.
The President’s attention was also drawn towards reducing the time limit of a duty free vehicle permits issued to academics to enable them to buy a vehicle within a shorter period.
Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake, President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, Finance Ministry Secretary P B Jayasundera, Higher Education Secretary Sunil Navarathne, Chief of Presidential Staff Gamini Senarath, University Grants Commission Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake, Vice Chancellors of all universities and other university academics participated.

Link: http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/05/25/news01.asp