President Ranil Wickremesinghe has proposed to set up an insurance fund for private sector employees, providing a monthly allowance for a maximum of three months covering the period from the loss of employment and re-employment.

Tabling the 2023 Budget in parliament earlier today, the Head of State noted that the number of private sector employees who lose their jobs due to various reasons is on the rise now.

As this has become a very complex social issue with the current economic crisis, he proposed to provide insurance coverage and to establish an insurance fund for this purpose.

Further, as a large number of people are benefitting from the Agrahara health insurance system provided for government employees, the President proposed to provide similar health insurance to private sector employees as well.

“A contribution is provided to the Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF)by the employers on behalf of private sector employees. Therefore, it will be a duty and responsibility to provide some relief from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). Accordingly, it would be appropriate to allocate a certain amount from the Employees’ Trust Fund for the proposed health and insurance coverage.”

Hence, ETF Act should be amended to incorporate these two schemes under the Employees’ Trust Fund, the President added.