• Condemns remarks made by Minister of Finance

By Yohan Perera 

Whilst condemning the remarks made by Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa that public service is a burden to the nation, Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa yesterday alleged that the government is preparing to dissolve the public service in Sri Lanka, either directly or by indirect means.

“The Minister of Finance has stated that the public service has been over-widened to the extent that now the country can no longer bear it and the public service is a burden to the country.

 We believe that this is also the stance of the government and we condemn that statement with contempt. It is clear that the government is preparing to dissolve the public service in Sri Lanka, either directly or by indirect means,” Mr. Premadasa said in a statement.

‘The Minister who presented a popular proposal of raising the retirement age in Public Service from 60 to 65 to the Budget, says the very next day that the public service is a burden to the country. 

The minister who violates his own opinion the following day is acting in accordance with his own ridiculous budget proposal. We are not surprised to witness this treatment of the government to public servants, who are crowned at the altar during the election period. The opportunistic nature of the government is made very well manifest today in its position to see public servants as a burden to the country even before the end of the current pandemic.  It has forgotten the commendable and indomitable intervention of the public service in catastrophic situations,” Mr. Premadasa said. 

“If not for the duty performed for the country by heads of public administration as well as public servants in many sectors including Health, Defence, Transport, Postal, CWE, Samurdhi, Grama Niladhari, Public Health Inspectors, Family Health and Consumer Services the country would undoubtedly have encountered a grave crisis by now. However, the whole country is aware who made the arbitrary recruitments to government institutions without any planned programme,” he added.

Although we fully agree to the providing of employment opportunities to the young generation in the country, the country is experiencing today the consequences of filling numbers in public service in order to shape the agenda of political power arbitrarily and without a plan in that pretext. It will rise further due to the raising of the retirement age to 65 as per the budget proposals. In accordance with the report of the Sub-Committee on Public Service Reforms, what remains to be done are to strengthen productive government institutions, to change the principle and structure of public administration to improve productivity, to create a system of public administration that ensures effective formulation and evaluation of policies and programmes; and to redesign the functioning of state institutions in a technical and planned manner, in line with modernity” he also said.

• The opportunistic nature of the government is made very well manifest today in its position to see public servants as a burden to the country even before the end of the current pandemic