The Public Officers’ Salaries and Pensions Commission began operations on Tuesday in Colombo, tasked with resolving pay and pension grievances that officials say have gone unaddressed for more than two decades.
The commission was inaugurated under the patronage of Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government Prof. Chandana Abeyratne. Its office is at Malalasekara Mawatha, Colombo 7, EconomyNext reported.
It was created following a proposal made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the 2026 Budget and formally established through Extraordinary Gazette No. 2494/05 dated June 22, 2026. The 15-member body is chaired by former Ministry Secretary Ashoka Peiris, with Nalaka Disanayake as Secretary.
A first for pensioners
Prof. Abeyratne said this was the first time Sri Lanka had appointed a dedicated commission to examine pension-related issues affecting retired public officers.
Salary anomalies in the public service had remained unresolved for over 20 years because there was no comprehensive and scientific mechanism to address them, he said, according to the President’s Media Division. Earlier attempts to fix problems in individual sectors had often created fresh difficulties for other groups of public officers, he added, which is why a framework covering all public servants was needed.
The minister said the government’s salary revisions are being implemented in three stages from January 1, 2025, with the final phase due on January 1, 2027. The revised structure will also apply to officers who retired on or after January 1, 2025.
He also said public sector recruitment, suspended since 2020, has resumed, with Cabinet approval granted to recruit 120,000 new public servants.
Deputy Minister of Labour Mahinda Jayasinghe said pay anomalies had been debated for years without a lasting solution, and expressed confidence the commission would take a comprehensive, evidence-based approach.
Two months for submissions
The commission will accept submissions from trade unions, professional organisations and members of the public for two months, Ada Derana reported, with a trilingual notice setting out the process due to appear in newspapers on Friday. EconomyNext reported that proposals from trade unions and other organisations would be heard from August 5.
Its mandate also covers improving professionalism in the public service and recommending structural reforms to modernise public administration in line with technological change.
