A press release issued by the GMOA regarding the suspension of the strike?

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The Government Medical Officer’s Association had announced that an island-wide strike would be held on March 5^th but they have cancelled it. While various stories were circulating on social media regarding this, many people were misled by a photo posted on social media that purported to be a statement by the Government Medical Officer’s Association stating the reasons for suspending the strike. Here is an investigation we did regarding that.

Social Media Posts

A photo was circulated on social media purporting to be a photo of the statement sent by the Government Medical Officer’s Association regarding the suspension of the strike planned to be carried out island wide on March 5^th.

That statement includes that, the Association decided to cancel the strike and report to work as the strike was planned without proper understanding and with the involvement of some subversive group and has caused great public unrest and displeasure towards doctors in the country.

It further mentions that, as soon as there is a discussion about salaries, various political groups and political forces instill hateful thoughts in doctors and unnecessary fear. Therefore, they were prepared to act against the current government without proper investigation. Through the statement they have expressed their regret to the government and the public of the country on behalf of all the medical officers.

Here is a photo of the circulated statement.

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Here is how we took steps to investigate the credibility of this.

Fact Check

We first checked whether the Government’s Medical Officer’s Association has forwarded the above-mentioned statement to the Health Ministry, State hospitals and to the Media Companies stating the reason for the cancellation of the strike planned to held on March 5^th citing the unfair allowance cuts proposed in the 2025 budget document presented on February 17^th, which have caused injustice to doctors and the medical service.

However, the association had not sent a press release to other media institutions, including ours.

We also inquired whether the Government Medical Officer’s Association has sent the above-mentioned letter to the Ministry of Health or Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, as indicated in the letter, and the Minister’s media secretary stated that no such letter had been received.

Government Medical Officer’s Association

We also inquired the Government Medical Officer’s Association to investigate this matter. The medical officers stated that the above statement circulating on social media is false and that no such letter was issued by the association.

It was further mentioned that a discussion was held between the Government Medical Officer’s Association and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa regarding the injustice occurred to doctors through the budget. There the minister has confirmed that in line with the demands of the Government Medical Officer’s Association, a fair solution will be provided due value to doctors and the service they provide amidst a number of difficulties and that it will be announced before the end of the third reading debate of the budget. Accordingly, it has been decided to temporarily suspend the strike until March 21^st, giving the President and the Minister of Health a reasonable time to resolve this issue.

Here is a video of the media briefing held by the Government Medical Officer’s Association regarding the temporary suspension of the strike.

Also, the Government Medical Officer’s Association has stated on their official Facebook page that the shared letter is fake.

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2025 Budget and the Proposed Salary Revision for Doctors.

As doctors, the most attention in this year’s budget has been focused on the salary revision process in the public service.

The long-standing position of the Government Medical Officers’ Association has been that instead of adding allowances to salaries from time to time in an illogical manner, the basic salary of government employees should be revised to protect the relevant salary rates in the National Salary Policy. Accordingly, they express their gratitude for the fact that, despite the existing financial constraints, the government led by the President has increased the basic salaries of public employees in line with the National Salary Policy, including a significant increase in the basic salaries of doctors of all grades.

They point out that despite a salary increase through the 2025 Budget, the decision to arbitrarily reduce the value of the additional duty allowance which is unique and special to the medical service has cause serious unrest among doctors. 

The overall salary revision proposal was discussed at length at the Central Committee meeting of the Government Medical Officer’s Association, as the following issues have been discussed.

1. There is a clear conceptual and technical difference between the overtime allowances given to other groups in the public service and the additional duty allowances given only to doctors.
2. The extra duty system and extra duty allowance are unique and specific to doctors. Currently, the hourly rate of additional duty allowance for doctors is 1/80 of the median basic salary for the relevant grade, and that rate is unique to doctors. It has been reduced by 50% in a single installment to 1/120 of the basic salary through this year’s budget.
3. Doctors perform a number of duties in addition to their clinical duties, and provide patient care services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout the country, even after normal working hours. Since the additional duty allowance received for this is currently paid with a monthly and daily limit, there is still a significant shortfall in the additional duty allowance received by doctors of all categories in relation to the service performed.
4. Despite this, the budget proposal to unfairly and arbitrarily reduce the hourly rate of doctors’ overtime pay by 50% has further undermined the patient care services that doctors in this country continue to provide across the country, despite minimal facilities.
5. Although there are restrictions on doctors receiving additional duty allowance, many other employees of many sectors who receive overtime allowances have the privilege of receiving it for unlimited hours. Therefore, even if their overtime pay rate is reduced, the final result is minimal compared to that of doctors.
6. This has ultimately led to the creation of a new salary disparity between doctors and other health staff within the health system.
7. It is absolutely unacceptable to revise this offer in an unfair and arbitrary manner without agreement of either party, disregarding the uniqueness of the service.
8. It has also been decided to reduce the holiday allowance, which is paid at the rate of 1/20 of the basic salary, to 1/30. Regardless of how many Sundays and holidays doctors perform their services during a month, payment will be made for only three days per month.
9. This reduction in the allowances received and to be received thus far will ultimately result in a significant financial loss to the salaries of doctors, even after the proposed basic salary increases in the budget.
10. It is also observed that the role of doctors, who provide exceptional service amidst various difficulties without a salary commensurate with their service, has been underestimated, and doctors have also lost the real benefit of the salary increase proposed in this year’s budget compared to all other professional categories. This is a situation that has not been created in any previous budget proposal.

They point out that doctors are becoming more complacent and the health sector is heading towards an unnecessary crisis, due to the decision to cut additional duty allowances and holiday allowances with an intervention of some other party, although the government implemented this salary revision with the positive intention of providing a salary increase.

The main request by the Government Medical Officers’ Association before the budget reading was that a time-bound program and a set of policies should be announced through the budget document to encourage doctors to remain in the country. They point out that it is a matter of concern that no such specific proposal is included in this year’s budget.

The Government Medical Officers’ Association has submitted a number of proposals to the Ministry of Health including updating the Disturbance, Availability and Transport (DAT) allowance, including its inclusion in Circular 22/99, resolving transport issues, increasing the monthly allowances of interns and postgraduate doctors undergoing overseas training, improving official housing facilities etc., explaining the need to announce a specific program based on them. They also point out that special attention should be paid to the problems of novice and junior doctors, who have been most affected by the economic crisis.

They mention that the proposed decreases in additional duty allowances and holiday allowances in the budget are a policy decision that has had a severe adverse impact on the provision of quality patient care services across the country with equality and the excellence of medical services and therefore the professional dignity and value have been undermined. They furthermore mention that the Central Committee of the Government Medical Officers’ Associations has made a decision that the budget decision should be reversed and the value of the additional duty allowances should be revised to 1/80 of the basic salary and the value of the holiday allowance to 1/120 of the basic salary.

The Central Committee has also decided that a strong program and set of policies should be announced with a time frame to encourage doctors to remain in the country and in the free health service. It is further said that if the rulers fail to take the necessary positive steps to immediately resolve this problem that has arisen due to the arbitrary curtailment of the benefits and privileges that the medical service has received so far, they would eventually have to resort to professional action.

Minister of Health Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa

Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa stated in Parliament on 4^th March that it is unfair for doctors to decide to go on strike despite the fact that a significant salary increase has been given to public servants, including doctors. 

The Minister points out that they will be given relief in basic salary, additional duty allowance, holiday allowance, annual salary increment, as well as pay tax.

The basic salary of a doctor entering the public service is Rs. 54,290, and that salary has been increased to Rs. 94,150, meaning that the basic salary of a doctor has increased by Rs. 39,860.

Similarly, after all other allowances are added together, the average gross salary of a doctor is about Rs. 240,000, and under the first phase, in April alone, the salary increase will be about Rs. 15,582.

The basic salary for a doctor belonging to the second grade was Rs. 58,305 and that salary will increase to Rs. 101,370, and accordingly the basic salary has increased by Rs. 43,065. Basic salary received by a first-grade doctor so far was Rs. 71,805 and it has increased to Rs. 125,670, meaning that the basic salary increase is Rs. 53,865. 

Meanwhile, the basic salary currently received by a junior specialist doctor is Rs. 88,000 and it will increase to Rs. 156,000, and accordingly, the basic salary increase is Rs. 68,000. The Minister stated that a significant portion of this basic salary will be received this April and another portion will be received in 2026 January and 2027 January , i.e., salary increases ranging from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 68,000, within 20 months.

The Minister also expressed his views regarding the salaries of professionals working under the Paramedical Service.

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Conclusion

Our investigation shows that the letter that was circulated stating the reasons for the cancellation of the strike which was to be held on 5^th, is fake. The Government Medical Officers Association confirmed that they did not issue such a statement. Also, even though it was stated in the letter that they have forwarded the letter to Media channels, they have not received such a statement.

Although the reason for suspending the strike was stated in the circulated letter as the intervention of some subversive group and a strike prepared without proper understanding, in fact, the association states that the strike was only temporarily suspended until March 21st, and the reason for this is to give the President and the Minister of Health a reasonable amount of time to resolve this issue.