Foreign Service recruitments only through proper procedure

COLOMBO: The Foreign Ministry said yesterday that it had taken steps to recruit new hands after conducting a competitive examination from the year 2004, after a lapse of several years.

The Ministry said: "Recruitment of officers to the Sri Lanka Foreign Service has been an issue of public discussion. Foreign Affairs Ministry having perused through the letters to the Editor in Media has issued a statement explaining their side of the story.

In order to dispel factual inaccuracies in these letters, the Ministry wishes to set out the factual position as follows:

1. After a lapse of two years, the present Administration took action in 2004 to hold the open competitive examination for recruitment to Grade III of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, and the examination was held in March 2005.

2. The final results of the examination were received on 22 March 2006.

3. According to these results, only one person had obtained the required marks stipulated in the gazette notification, at the examination.

4. The Foreign Ministry was faced with two options:

i. To treat only one person as qualifying for the viva, and proceed with the recruitment disregarding provisions of the Establishments Code concerning recruitment.

OR

ii. Cancel the results of the March 2005 examination and hold a fresh examination.

5. It was felt that either of these options would have given rise to the following:

- Perceptions of injustice amongst the applicants concerned,

- Further delay in filling vacancies in the Ministry cadre.

6. Consequently, the Ministry having also consulted relevant authorities including the Attorney

General's Department, proposed to the Cabinet that the cut off marks should be revised.

7. Revision of the cut off point required an amendment to the SLFS Minute, and a Cabinet directive is awaited on this.

8. The Ministry has no knowledge of the names of, or the marks obtained by, the candidates who sat the exam, apart from the one person referred to above.

9. The Ministry intends to recruit the next batch of officers to the SLFS no sooner than a Cabinet directive is received.