Auditor General's Salary Woes: "My Monthly Salary Of Rs. 69000 Barely Sufficient To Pay My Electricity And Telephone Bills"

Chairman of the National Audit Commission Gamini Wijesinghe said his monthly salary was restricted to a measly Rs.69000 and he had no way of meeting his expenses. 

"The electricity bill of my official residence usually goes up to Rs. 30000 and my monthly telephone bill is Rs. 30,000. So, when I pay those two bills, I cannot do anything else with my monthly salary," the Auditor General and the Chairman of the National Audit Commission said. 

Wijesinghe said although the salary was not his sole focus, he so had the right to be entitled to a sufficient monthly income. 

The salary issue of the Auditor General, now the Chairman of the National Audit Commission, has been discussed by lawmakers for nearly two years. 

Although there was a proposal to increase his salary, the Leader of the House recently took the matter off the agenda of Parliament. 

The JVP questioned the government's move and asked whether the government was trying to penalize the Auditor General for acting independently. 

It was obvious that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was dissatisfied with the conduct of the Auditor General at the time the inquiry into the Treasury Bonds scam was taking place.