Measures to balance public sector employees

The Ministry of Public Administration is to introduce measures to balance the number of public sector employees after revelations that some of the departments were having a surplus of staff, Dr Ramesh Pathirana said today.

Dr Pathirana addressing the post Cabinet press conference said that the Cabinet has decided to review the recruitment of public service as part of the plan.

The proposal  was presented by the Prime Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena as the Minister of Public Administration aimed at ending the  inefficient recruitment into public service and rationalise the number of public employees, in order to maintain a quality public administration.

Institutions that lack employees to perform services can obtain employees from institutions with excess, Dr Pathirana said.

He said unemployed 60,000 degree-holders are to be provided jobs in education and other required fields, through a committee of officers, including the Secretary to the Prime Minister. 

According to the Cabinet decision taken, under the current economic situation, the government has decided to temporarily suspend the recruitment for public service.

“For this reason actions initiated, as per the provisions of service minutes and recruitment procedures, for filling up the vacancies of approved posts have to be stopped. There is a surplus of employees in the public service as a whole due to the direct recruitment of graduates and other categories of employees into the public service from time to time following the approved recruitment procedures as well as under the policy decisions taken by the existing governments," the cabinet decision said.