Over 49,600 vacancies in 55 ministries - WDJ

Ridma Dissanayake

Around 49,664 vacancies exist in 55 ministries. The most number of vacancies, 16,896, is at the Economic Development Ministry while there are 10,490 vacancies in the Local Government Ministry and 2,754 vacancies at the Public Administration and Home Affairs Ministry, Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W D J Seneviratne said.

He said arrangements are in place to deploy 2,546 graduates in to the Agrarian Services and Wildlife Ministry, 1,519 to the Agriculture Ministry and 1,247 to the Child Development and Women's Affairs Ministry. All these appointees will be recruited to the permanent cadre, Minister Seneviratne said.

The minister said around 53,000 graduates were recruited to the government service from the 25 administrative districts and some who passed the teaching and other competitive examinations have resigned.

"There are now only 50,821 newly recruited graduates. We recruited 6,778 from Kurunegala, 4,169 from Galle, 4,083 from Matara and 1,778 from Jaffna. The other 21 districts have also been covered. Recruiting over 50,000 graduates to the government service was a great challenge to us. However, we won the challenge successfully. All efforts are being made to make the public service more effective, efficient and people - friendly. We believe that the new recruits will work with dedication to develop the country while serving the public," the minister said.

Abises Abiman today

The youth felicitation ceremony Abises Abiman, organised by the Public Administration and Home Affairs Ministry will be held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo tomorrow. The Abises Abhiman youth felicitation ceremony is organised by the Public Administration and Home Affairs Ministry with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Freedom Graduates Association.