Casual and contract employees in the State sector are to be made permanent, with effect from November 1, 2009, subject to having fulfiled five conditions as of October 31, 2009.

Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said, at the Cabinet press briefing in Colombo, that the decision to grant permanency to temporary, casual, substitute, relief and contract basis, preliminary grade employees in the public and provincial public service, was approved by the Cabinet, on a Memorandum submitted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The conditions are that there should be approved vacancies in the permanent cadre. The said employees should possess the requisite qualifications laid down in the scheme of recruitment for the relevant post and they should have been below the age of 45 years at the time of their appointment. However, this would not apply to employees serving in projects under the Management Services Circular No. 33 of April 5, 2007, he said.

The Cabinet of Ministers, Yapa said, also approved a proposal by President Rajapaksa as Minister of Finance and Planning, to grant special allowances to all members of the armed forces, irrespective of the area they serve in and public servants effective from November 2009.

"The allowance to armed forces personnel, is in recognition of the services rendered by them to defeat the LTTE after thirty years," he said. "Accordingly, the daily allowance of Rs.100 paid to personnel serving in risky areas, will be granted to those stationed in other parts of the country as well. In addition, a special allowance of Rs. 1,000 will be paid."

Yapa said that all State employees will be given a cost of living allowance of Rs.750 per month, while pensioners would be granted Rs. 375. They will be paid in January 2010, with retrospective effect from November 2009.

Among the other Memorandums that were approved by the Cabinet, he said, was another proposal by President Rajapaksa as Minister of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order, for Sri Lanka to enter into a collaborative agreement with Russia, to combat trafficking and the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.