The State Veterinary Surgeons' Association (SVSA) says it has decided to launch a 'sick leave' campaign on November 17, citing several issues, including a shortage of veterinary officers in the public service, lack of facilities and failure to provide adequate allowances through the 2027 Budget.

Association President Upul Ranjith Kumara said that although the public service should have 931 veterinary officers, only around 600 are currently serving.

He noted that these officers are carrying out duties that should be performed by 931 officers, yet the Government has failed to recognize their additional workload or provide them with a reasonable allowance.

He further said that a proposal requesting an additional duty allowance had been submitted to the Government ahead of the presentation of the 2027 Budget. However, no satisfactory response had been received through the Budget.

He also pointed out that veterinary officers are not even provided with basic office facilities available to other public sector employees. As a result, some officers are required to operate from dilapidated office buildings or premises obtained on a rental basis.

Furthermore, due to the lack of sufficient official vehicles for field duties, officers are sometimes compelled to use their personal vehicles or hire three-wheelers to carry out their responsibilities, he said.

Highlighting the importance of the Department of Animal Production and Health, Kumara said the department makes a significant contribution towards meeting the country's protein requirements.

He noted that between 90% and 95% of this requirement is supplied through small- and medium-scale farmers.

The primary responsibility of providing the necessary services to these farming communities lies with the veterinary officers attached to the Department of Animal Production and Health, he said, adding that it was unfortunate that the Government had failed to pay adequate attention to the difficulties faced by officers performing such an important service.

The Association President also alleged that although these concerns had been raised with the Ministry Secretary and Minister K. D. Lalkantha on several occasions, no proper intervention had been made to address them.

Meanwhile, he pointed out that recruitment of new officers into the public service remains inadequate, while there is also a growing trend of serving officers leaving the service before reaching the age of 60.

Kumara further revealed that the Association's Executive Committee had unanimously decided to withdraw from all development programmes scheduled for 2027 if the Government fails to respond positively to their demands following the planned sick leave campaign on November 17.

Accordingly, the Association has decided to withdraw from development programmes conducted at provincial level, as well as those implemented by the line ministry, its head office and other government institutions and ministries.

He added that the Association had also decided to suspend the submission of all reports to higher authorities from November onwards and refrain from attending meetings, including divisional coordination committee meetings involving political interference.