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Festival advance - to tide over avurudu expenses
By I.M.W. de Silva.
The Sinhala and Hindu New Year will be celebrated on April 13 and 14 this year. A majority of the employees in the public and private sectors of Sri Lanka being Sinhalese and Tamils, they will collect their festival advances this week.

December, is a costly month for Christians. Similarly, April is an expensive month for the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Middle class employees who receive a meagre salary get into debt after spending their salaries on gifts and sweetmeats. The festival advance, therefore, cushions the burden as it is recovered in monthly instalments over a period of time. How did this practice of taking festival advances begin? It was first granted for the Sambuddha Jayanthi Festival in 1956 which coincided with the Vesak festival that year.

The Sambuddha Jayanthi Festival was celebrated worldwide by Buddhists to mark the 2500th birthday of Lord Buddha. Keen enthusiasm was displayed by the Buddhists to celebrate this unique occasion. The granting of an advance to government employees for the Sambuddha Jayanthi was initiated by the late Premier S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (who came to power in April that year).

The festival advance was not paid on the demand of any trade union or individual. It was paid to all government employees irrespective of religion. Even the Muslim and Christian employees were entitled to it.

By March the following year the advance was recovered in full. Then the demand was made of the government to grant an advance on the same lines for the New Year festival and the Bandaranaike government at the zenith of its popularity agreed. It should also be mentioned that there were no government or semi-government corporations at the time. As time passed, the festival advance was extended to employees of the private sector as well.

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