'It seems appropriate to grant government officials leave for one working day of the week and provide them with the necessary facilities to engage in agricultural activities in their backyards.'
Last week the United Nations warned Sri Lanka was facing a"dire humanitarian crisis", and said four out of five people in the nation of 22 million were forced to skip meals.
"It seems appropriate to grant government officials leave for one working day of the week and provide them with the necessary facilities to engage in agricultural activities in their backyards," a cabinet statement said Tuesday.Sri Lanka's president declares state of emergency amid violent protests over economic crisis
The World Food Programme of the UN said it began distributing food vouchers to about 2,000 pregnant women in Colombo's "underserved" areas as part of "life-saving assistance". Public employees will have every Friday off for the next three months without a pay cut, according to the cabinet decision, but the arrangement will not apply to essential services staff.The government also said any members of the 1.5 million-strong public sector who wanted to travel abroad to find work would be given up to five years of unpaid leave without affecting their seniority or pensions.