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| Friday, 4 June 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| Committee to review cancelled appointments The President's Office states that the Government has appointed a Committee of Officials to review the cases of appointments in statutory bodies and Government Departments in the period between the dissolution of Parliament and the General elections on April 2 unlike following December 2001 where no provision was made to review any of the cancelled appointments. A media release issued yesterday by the Presidential Secretariat states: "During the past few weeks the President's Office has noticed a spate of newspaper reports highlighting the termination of employment in the state sector. These reports either state directly or give the impression that the alleged terminations are due to political reasons. It is correct that the Cabinet, on April 21, 2004, decided to cancel all appointments made to Government Departments and other statutory bodies, between the date of the dissolution of the 12th Parliament and the General Election on April 2. In doing so, the Cabinet was merely following a well-established convention that no such appointments should be made when a General Election is pending. The previous Government, following the General Election of December 2001 took a similar decision and removed several public officers from their positions. In December 2001 no provision was made to review any of the cancelled appointments, unlike after April 2004. Though the President in 2002 submitted a Note to the Cabinet to agree to a review of these cancellations it was found that many a Minister never followed it and many public servants were left in the lurch, till the recent change of Government. The present Government, when taking the decision to annul the appointments made between the dates of dissolution of Parliament and the General Election, simultaneously decided to appoint a Committee of officials to review the cases of appointments made during the above period following normal procedures and in terms of the approved scheme of recruitment. The Committee has now been appointed under the Chairmanship of the Secretary to the Cabinet and several appointments at the level of Head of Department have already been reconfirmed. Further, Secretaries of Ministries have been requested to forward appeals, if any, for consideration of the Committee. The present Government under the direction of President Kumaratunga re-opened the public service thereby creating employment opportunities to undergraduates and other educated youth, subject to the needs of the administration and resources available to it. |
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