Portfolios are responsibilities not privileges: President

The ministers should execute duties bearing in mind that ministry portfolios were not privileges but responsibilities, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today said speaking after the new State and deputy ministers were sworn in at the Presidential Secretariat.

The President said the ministers had an enormous responsibility ahead of them.

“We have to ensure that the pledges we made during the presidential election are delivered. The ministers should work to achieve this goal, to fulfil the needs of the people,” he said.

President Rajapaksa said he wanted to keep the number of State ministers, which is 35, at a number around the Cabinet ministers which is 15 but couldn’t do so due to the mammoth challenges ahead of them.

“We have crafted the State ministry portfolios accordingly, to serve the people better and maximise efficiency. For instance, the Railway Services State Ministry is an integral portfolio due to the importance of the railway sector. We need to revitalise the railway service and make it efficient,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)