More than 78,000 workers lose livelihoods to drought

More than 78,000 people across Sri Lanka have lost their livelihoods to severe dry weather caused by El Niño, yet the Labour Ministry has admitted it lacks any mechanism to step in because the victims work primarily in agriculture and other informal sectors.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Deputy Labour Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe explained that the ministry's remit strictly limits its intervention to employment issues in the formal sector, such as company or factory closures.

He noted that while formal sector employees remain unaffected, informal workers have taken the brunt of the disaster.

“People working in the formal sector have not faced employment-related issues. But, people engaged in agricultural activities and other sectors in the informal sector have lost their livelihoods,” Jayasinghe said.

He added: “There is no problematic situation to the extent that the Ministry needs to intervene. We can intervene if an employment issue arises in the formal sector, such as if factories and companies are closing down. At present, we don’t have a mechanism to intervene in the informal sector.”

He noted, however, that the government is preparing a separate assistance programme for those affected.

The official statistics were delivered to Parliament on 10 September by Environment Minister Dr. Dammika Patabendi, who confirmed that 78,368 individuals belonging to 25,037 families across seven districts have been affected.

The hardest-hit regions include Monaragala, Badulla, Ratnapura, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, and Anuradhapura.

Agriculture suffered the highest damage, impacting 36,875 individuals across 12,304 families.

The livestock sector recorded losses affecting 9,408 people from 2,966 families, while 7,889 people across 2,333 families were hit in the plantation sector.

The fishing industry saw 7,491 people from 2,107 families affected, along with 6,039 self-employed individuals across 1,769 families, and 369 people from 108 families in the business sector.

A further 10,297 people across 3,450 families were categorised under other livelihood activities.