Innovative thinking vital for better public service - Lalith Weeratunga

Having an innovative mind when going about one's daily routine in public service can make a world of difference in the lives of the people whom the government servant serves, said Secretary to the President and UNESCAP chairman Lalith Weeratunga in his keynote address at the National Chief Innovative Officers' Conference held in Colombo.

It was organised by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). Weeratunga said that DS or the Divisional Secretariat Project was a core project in the Re-engineering Government Program under the eSri Lanka initiative and that the officers heading the Divisional Secretariat formed the heart of public administration.

The Chief Innovative Officers who participated in the conference consisted mainly of officers of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service islandwide and formed the pivotal part in the machinery for implementing the Re-engineering Government program, Weeratunga said.

Some of the better-known deliverables of the Re-engineering Government program are relatively speedily issued birth, marriage and death certificates, passports, national identity cards, vehicle revenue licence and pensions.

Getting Government information by telephoning 1919 from the Centre which works from 8.00 a.m. to 8. p.m. daily, the facility to pay vehicular traffic fines by mobile phone under the Lanka Gage Project and Saving on telephone charges for Government institutions through the Lanka Gate Network which links 325 Government organisations are some of the lesser known deliverables which are fast becoming popular.

Weeratunga said, "When I was appointed to the Department of Immigration and Emigration at Galle Buck Road, we decided on what documents to ask the passport applicants and reduced the three-month period drastically".