Management Services Department of the Ministry of Finance working out a mechanism to promote Police officers

The Management Services Department of the Ministry of Finance has been working out a mechanism to promote constables to positions up to Chief Inspectors of Police despite the existing cadre positions in the Police Department.

The Police Department has a staff of over 85,000 policemen and, 31,540 of them are in the positions of constables and inspectors, the Finance Ministry said in a press release. 

On March 2019, the Department of Police had made a request to the Management Services Department of the Treasury through the Ministry of Defence to prepare a mechanism to promote, especially its majoriy police constables despite the limitations in its cadre positions.

This request had been made to the Management Services Department with the recomendations of the Police Commission that is in charge of promotion, transfers and disciplinary action of the Police Department.

The onus of approving the staff recuitment procedure, Scheme of Recruitment including salaries in the public sector, semi government sector lies with the Department of Management Service of the Ministry of Finance.

Accordingly the Management Services Department has already held discussions on the matter with the relevant officials of the Police Department in this regard, the statement said.

Some reports published by certain media which quoted Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera as saying that there is no money to promote police constables in the Department of Police are totally false and fabricated.

The request made by the Police Department from the relevant sectors to promote the constables was subject to discussion by the Manageent Services Department of the Treasury under ordinary administrative procedure. No minister is involved in this matter as it comes under the ordinary administrative procedure.

The reports published in certain media as said by the Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweea that he has attempted to thwart this by stating that there is no money to do it are misleading the general public. Further, Finance Minister, Mangala Samaraweera is not invloved at all in this administrative procedure as the minister.

The Management Services Department of the Finance Ministry has accepted at policy level the need to promote police constables to positions up to Chief Inspector of Police without taking into consideration the number of existing vacancies involving those positions.

As further details are required to take decisions to implement these proposals, the Salaries and Cadre Commission after having discussion with the Police department has requested the Police Department to send the necessary details. The letter sent to the Police Department in last June has not been replied so far.

As the Government has already taken a policy decision to promote the police officers; soonafter the details required from the Department of Police are received, the promotion of over 31,000 police officers could be carried out once the approval of the Management Services Department is approved.