President tells public service administrators:

Seek people's opinion before making policy decisions

Rasika Somarathna

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday advised public service administrators of the country to seek the people's opinion at the grassroots at all times, before making public policy decisions and formulating such decree from the confines of the City's 'Ivory Towers'.

The President was addressing the progress review meeting of the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs held at the Ministry's head office in Colombo 7.

While identifying innovation as a key component of a good public administration, the President added that a high-performing public service should be relentless in its commitment to continuous improvement without ever assuming that the current policies, processes and services are the best or only solution.

The President said such attitudes should be embraced by all officials to provide an efficient and satisfactory service which will meet the aspirations and needs of the people at all times.

While looking into the progress, plans and issues related to the ministry, the President advised officials to further enhance the use of information and communication technology applications to improve public sector efficiency and streamline governance systems to support sustainable development.

He urged officials to place greater emphasis on institutional linkages between and among the tiered government ministries, departments and other stakeholders in a bid to create synergy for efficient service delivery to the public.

Ministry Secretary P.B.Abeykoon said his ministry was planning a e-linkage between the relevant stakeholders, such as, ministry, departments, District Secretariat and Grama Niladharis. He said Grama Nildhari's will soon be provided with lap tops and relevant technical know-how to link with other stakeholders.

Some of the other e-inatiatives highlighted by Abeykoon were the progress of human resources management(e-HRM), birth, marriage and death certificate issuance(e-BMD) and the e-pension programme. He informed the President that these have made significant progress and will be implemented soon.

While looking into public complaints, the President advised officials to ensure that all relevant state officers remain at their offices during the public day without fail to meet and address the needs of the people.

He also told them to ensure that district and division development committee meetings are conducted on schedule with the attendance of all stakeholders.

While looking into vacancies in the sector, he told officials to make maximum use of the newly recruited graduates to the state sector by giving them responsibilities inline with their qualifications and capabilities He also told Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W.D.J.Senevirathne to take steps to address the technical officer shortage at District Secretariat level.

The President advised officials to ensure that different arms of the government and land demarcations will not become obstacles when fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the people. The President also called for better connectivity among relevant departments when handling such issues.

He also urged them to have a good mix of officers who speak both Sinhala and Tamil language in all provinces and noted that language should not become a barrier when serving the people.

The President also looked into the needs of the ministry and discussed challenges obstructing further development. He suggested several aspects to be considered when formulating strategies for the future. He also evaluated Key Performance Indicators against agreed targets.

Minister W.D.J.Seneviratne made the welcome speech and Deputy Minister Wijeya Dahanayake made the vote of thanks. Ministry Secretary Abeykoon made a comprehensive presentation of his ministry's work progress, related issues and plans for the future.

Ministers Basil Rajapaksa, Navin Dissanayake, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunge, Treasury Secretary Dr P B Jayasundera, Ministry Secretaries, Government Agents, Public Administartion Ministry officials participated. President Rajapaksa is slated to visit all key ministries to review work in progress.