'Over 9,300 graduate employees to be made permanent within weeks': All graduate recruits permanent this year - Minister

Ridma Dissanayake

About 5,500 graduates from the 51,000 recruited last year have been made permanent in the government service and another batch of 9,387 await to be made permanent within the next two weeks, Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W. D. J. Seneviratne said. "We have recruited around 51,000 graduates to the state sector and we promised them to make them permanent after a probation period of one year," he said.

"We commenced the recruiting from March, 2012 and have been recruiting graduates group by group. Therefore, the day which they complete their probation is not the same," he pointed out.

He said they will receive their permanent appointments according to their recruitment date. Some will be delayed due to the complicated procedure of making appointments permanent, he said adding, "but on behalf of the government I promise that all graduates will receive their permanent appointment letters before the end of this year."

Recruiting graduates above 35 years to the government service was subject to criticism by certain groups. There are 3,778 graduates above 35 years and the government will provide justice to them, he added. In addition, 453 graduate Buddhist monks have applied for government jobs and arrangements are in place to grant government employment for them in Education, Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, Culture and the Arts Ministries and Archeological Department in the future, he said.