Galle Road closed off

Galle Road in Colombo in front of the Presidential Secretariat has been temporarily closed off over a protest, stated Ada Derana reporter.

Reportedly, the protest is organized by the wives of the disabled soldiers.

Meanwhile, the protest carried out by the disabled war heroes in front of the For Railway Station entered the 16th day today (26).

Disabled war heroes and the families of the fallen launched the protest on the 11th of September demanding the authorities provide their pension benefits even after they reach 55 years of age.

On September 24th, the Cabinet approval was granted to provide all the members of the Armed Forces, Police and the Special Task Force who have been disabled due to the war, a pension equal to their last salary even after their retirement.

However, the protesting war veterans rejected the Cabinet decision and continued with their protest while four disabled war veterans commenced a fast-unto-death demanding that necessary provisions be made for their wives or a relative of the family to receive the pension even after they pass away.

In this backdrop, the President’s Media Division (PMD) stated that the Cabinet Memorandum submitted by President Maithripala Sirisena as the Minister of Defense, to grant lifetime salaries for disabled war heroes has been approved by the Cabinet.

Accordingly, the Cabinet has given the approval to grant all the members of the tri-forces, Police and Special Task Force a salary equal to their last salary during their lifetime.

Although the President proposed to grant the salary to the wife or children below 26 years following the death of the military officer, the Cabinet of Ministers permitted the proposal by the Minister of Finance to grant the life-long salary only to the officer, the PMD said further.