Sunday Times 2
Verité Research shares structure for efficient government in Sri Lanka
View(s):Verité Research launched ‘Blueprint for a Rational Government in Sri Lanka’, a publication showing how the duties, functions, institutions, and laws in Sri Lanka can be structured and
organised efficiently – with 15 ministries.
It draws on the work of the 1988 Administrative Reform Commission as well as international best practices, to design a functional structure for organising government and all its activities in Sri Lanka, Verité said. The ‘blueprint’ is based on minimising two significant problems that can arise in the formation of cabinet ministries.
1. Fragmentation: this is when related subjects are split across different ministries. For example, at one time Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock Development and Fertiliser were split across different ministries.
2. Misalignment: this is when unrelated subjects are grouped together under the same ministry. For example, there was a single Ministry for Tourism, Wildlife and Christian Religious Affairs all lumped together, and another ministry lumping together elecommunications, Foreign mployment
and Sports.
Additionally, there is a problem of frequent changes that make government more dysfunctional. For instance, from 2010 to 2023, the compositions of ministries, including the institutions, and acts assigned to them, were changed by at least 111 gazettes, with each of these gazettes usually making multiple changes to the structure of government.
The theory and thinking behind the design were published in 2020 in a Verité Research White Paper titled ‘A Rational Method for Cabinet Formation in Sri Lanka’.
The two documents are being presented to all major political parties in Sri Lanka to assist with designing a structure of government that serves the people of Sri Lanka in an efficient manner.
To access these
documents, please visit: https://www.veriteresearch.org/publication/
blueprint-for-a-rational-cabinet-in-sri-lanka/