Public service should be geared to spearhead development - Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne

By Uditha Kumarasinghe

Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne said there is a vast improvement in the quality and efficiency of the work rendered by public servants. A majority of the public servants have understood the amount of work they will need to put into develop the country. Minister Seneviratne in an interview with the Sunday Observer said the public service has to be geared in keeping with the development of the country. The Government has done a vast amount of work to improve the civil administration in the Northern province.

Q: What are the challenges you have identified in the field of public administration and home affairs?

A: The challenges mean shortcomings that should be overcome. The shortcomings seems to be the opinion prevailing among the people that public service is inefficient and the tendency to make accusations that the public servants don’t pay much attention to the requirements of the people and the delay in obtaining relief for their grievances and requirements.

In tackling these issues, a progress has been made in this sector during the past three or four years. The physical facilities that are provided to the public servants have been improved. I have also taken steps to improve them to attend the needs of the people in a more efficient manner. If the required facilities or the requirements of a public place are not available for the public servants, it would be difficult for them to perform their duties. As a result the efficiency and the attention that we expect from them cannot be fulfilled.

Therefore, I am taking steps to provide basic needs required to these public officers to discharge their duties and cater to the needs of the people. New IT facilities should be made available so that the needs of the people could be attended immediately. We have already begun this in the public administration sector and certain Divisional Secretariat offices in the Western province have already been computerised and linked.

The Department of Pensions has also been computerised so that the time consumption with regard to the matters pertaining to the public has been curtailed to the minimum possible level. Now a person who goes to a Divisional Secretariat office to obtain a vehicle permit licence will be able to obtain it within three to four minutes. I believe these facilities should be expanded to other areas as well. Now we are in the process of computerising Divisional Secretariat offices and District Secretariat offices.

Q: How can we improve the efficiency of Government institutions and change the attitude of public servants?

A: That is the vision of this Ministry. Our vision is to create an excellent public service. When the public approach, he should feel that he is being listened and attended to. Those qualities should be included in the services that are rendered. The public servants must be contented. As I said earlier, facilities should be provided to public servats to render such a service.

They should also be mentally geared for the requirement of the people. That is being done now. I am going to devolve the training of the public servants to the district level. Now the training is done only in Colombo. The public servants who want to undergo training will have to come to Colombo and spend days in Colombo to go through the training. But this will be done away with so that the training process will be taken to the respective districts and the public servants can undergo training in their districts. We want everybody to be upto-date and they should be made to understand the necessity and the requirement that they are expected to cater to.

Q: What is the progress of the public sector reforms?

A: The public sector reforms are reflected by the contentment of the public. There was a public opinion that private sector is more efficient than the public sector. There is a notion that if a task is to be done properly it should be entrusted to the private sector. If you visit a Divisional Secretariat office or District Secretariat office, you will find the outlook of those offices have been improved very much. In certain places, I find those offices are very much better and well maintained than private offices. With regard to the efficiency and attention, public offices are now better. Development programs are being implemented by the Government and those programs are maned by the public servants.

There is a vast improvement in the quality and the efficiency of the work done. There may be certain setbacks and there may be certain officers who are not geared to their work. But a majority of the public servants are quite different and they have clearly understood the amount of work that they will have to put in to develop the country and to contribute their share for the development of the country.

Q: Sri Lanka has too many holidays is a common complaint. There was a proposal made recently that Poya holidays should not be mercantile holidays. Is the Government planning to reduce the number of holidays?

A: So far we have not decided to do that. But this representation is being made that the number of holidays in Sri Lanka is far too much. Every Poya day is a holiday so that there are 12 Poya holidays. But this is a predominantly Buddhist country. In such a country, Buddhists are expected to observe their religious rights on this particular day every month. For that purpose, it has been allowed. They will be able to be with the family and visit temple or observe Sil. The children will also get the opportunity to pay obescience to their parents. With those motives, Poya Day has been declared as a public holiday.

There is a notion that the number of public holidays should be pruned. But this is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country so that we will have to satisfy certain cultural requirements of each ethnic and religious group. If we prune the number of holidays, that will have to be done in such a way that their feelings will not be hurt. So far no decision has been taken to reduce the number of holidays.

Q: How can the Central Government involve Provincial Councils in development work more closely?

A: A vast amount of work has been entrusted to the Provincial Councils (PCs) which have been established under the 13th Amendment. In its enactment itself, there is a large list of items that have been entrusted to the PCs and to the Central Government as well. Then of course certain items which may be performed both by the PCs and the Central Government. When we consider the amount of work that is done by the PCs, there is a huge amount of work. But the expenditure that is incurred is also equally huge.

I have my doubt whether the money allocated for the PCs are properly used. Because this is a country where the whole administration and planning of development work has been geared for ceratin targets. So the PCs will have to comply with these targets. The amount of money allocated for the PCs will have to be utilised properly. But I don’t see PCs have the capacity or the capability to make use of these resources allocated to them to provide the maximum benefits to the people of the country. I fell adjustments and reviews will have to be done to overcome this situation.

Q: Has the Government reached a decision that the National Anthem should be sung only in one language, Sinhala? Has an agreement been reached on this matter?

A: Definitely not. Because article seven of the present Constitution says the national anthem of Sri Lanka is “Sri Lanka Matha” . That provision still remains. I know this song has been sung in Tamil in certain Tamil areas in the North and the East. But this has not been objected to. What was discussed in the Cabinet is an official recommendation by the official sub committee. These recommendations include mainly the way that one should conduct himself when the National Anthem is sung and when the National Anthem must be sung and various rhythms and the words that should be used to sing the National Anthem. Those are the matters that have been incorporated in the report that was submitted by the official sub committee headed by my Secretary.

On the eve of his retirement from his services, my Ministry Secretary Dissanayake wanted the report to be given to the Government. The only way that he could give the report to the Government is to submit it to the Cabinet because this official committee was appointed by the Cabinet. So these recommendations are incorporated in the form of a Cabinet memorandum and presented to the Cabinet for discussions. No final decision was taken. Therefore, the status quo remains and nobody should be afraid the system that prevails in the country will be done away with. The areas where the National Anthem was sung in Tamil can continue to sing in Tamil as well.

Q: Similarly, we see the National Flag being used and abused in various ways. Is the Government taking steps to ensure respect to the National Flag at all times?

A: If it is so that also can be taken up a committee and that has to be considered.

Q: There are allegations that senior Ministers are unhappy with the allocation of Ministries while prominence is given to younger MPs. Any truth in these allegations?

A: I can’t speak on behalf of others. Because I don’t see any expression of this containment from the Ministers. But I should say I am a senior Minister of this Government and I believe I have been given an appropriate Ministry where I can discharge my duties. A person who holds the Ministry should be able to discharge his duties for the betterment of the country.

Now this is the time where the public service has to be geared in keeping with the development of the country. It has to be on par with the development of the country where the mentality, output and the efficiency of the public service will have to be geared in keeping with the development of the country. That responsibility has been bestowed upon me. So I feel as a senior Minister I have been given a senior Ministry to fulfil my duties. I can say that I am happy with the Ministry that has been entrusted to me. In any Cabinet there are some who might not be happy about the Ministry given. I believe, this is quite usual in any Cabinet where a few might not be given the Ministries they want.

Q: Is the Government contemplating to hold the Local Government polls on the PR system or a mixed system?

A: The Government was to hold the Local Government polls on a mixed system. There are practical difficulties to hold these elections on a mixed system because the elections have to be held somewhere in March. Because of these practical difficulties, elections might be held under the old system.

Q: Will a resurgent UNP pose a challenge to the Government at this election or in the future?

A: I don’t think there is a resurgence in the UNP. Although they make a big noise about it and show the country that the UNP is united and their are no fractions in the party. I don’t see such a development on the part of the UNP. Still there are allegations made against each other. Under these circumstances one cannot say that the UNP is on the correct track.

Q: What is the progress with regard to making a trilingual public service?

A: It is very essential. Because every public servant should learn English to improve their knowledge. When they go abroad for exposer, they find it difficult to deal without the knowledge of English. Apart from that for the interaction among the public servants of different ethnicities, they should know a common language. There are Sinhala speaking people and around 18 percent Tamil speaking people in the country. The public servants should be able to work in any part of the country. For this purpose they should know the languages.

Q: What are the initiatives taken by your Ministry in the North, where civil administration is being established?

A: When the Northern province was liberated, the civil administration was prevalent only in Jaffna. But there were so many deficiencies. There were no adequate public officers and offices. In addition, there were shortcomings like physical requirements and human resources in the Eastern province as well. Now we are attending to these needs.

We are constructing buildings with foreign assistance which are necessary to house these administrative offices such as Divisional and District Secretariat offices. We are appointing officers for these positions. During the past one and half years a large amount of work was done with regard to the improvement of the civil administration of these areas.

Q: What is the contribution made by your Ministry to the reconciliation efforts now under way?

A: Our Ministry is always for reconciliation. We have now made it compulsory for public servants to equip themselves with a second language. Then there will be a better understanding and ability to work in any party of the country. Tamil speaking officers will come to South as in old days and Sinhala officers might go to the North and the East and work in those areas. Those requirements are being imposed.

Q: What can Sri Lankans expect in 2011 in terms of development, reconciliation and lasting peace?

A: With regard to reconciliation, the Government is doing its level best to wipe out discrimination. At present there is a better understanding and confidence in each other. The Government is geared for development. Work on several mega development projects such as the Norochcholai coal power plant, the Upper Kothmale hydro power plant, the Hambantota Port and the Mattala International Airport have commenced. Steps have been taken to improve the road network, ports and irrigation schemes to provide backlog for the development of the country.

With regard to agriculture, the lack of water is the biggest problem faced by the people in the dry zone. Therefore, the Government has already commenced the construction of several mega irrigation schemes like Moragahakanda and Deduru Oya to provide irrigation facilities to farmers. There is also a vast improvement in the fields of telecommunication, electricity and transport sectors. I am confident within a couple of years the living standards of people will improve.