The Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure has taken steps to pay long-outstanding statutory arrears to more than 7,000 retired and currently serving employees of state-owned plantation institutions, after a lapse of 25 years.
The payments are being made following the intervention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with the Government allocating approximately Rs. 11 billion for this purpose for 2026 and 2027.
The national programme to settle outstanding gratuity payments owed to workers in the Upcountry tea plantation sector was held at the Kandy District Secretariat, under the patronage of Ministers Anil Jayantha and Samantha Vidyaratne.
The payments are being facilitated by the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure and implemented by the Department of Labour, covering employees of the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation, Elkaduwa Plantations Limited and the Janatha Estates Development Board.
Under the first phase, benefits were provided to 303 beneficiaries, including 164 former employees of the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation and 87 beneficiaries associated with the Janatha Estates Development Board.
